High Point Panthers Defeat Longwood Lancers 79-68 in Big South Opener

Division I Women’s Basketball

Tuesday December 4th

High Point, N.C. - High Point University opened Big South Conference play with an eleven point home victory over Longwood in the Millis Center on Tuesday night.  The victory moves HPU to 2-6 following a difficult non-conference stretch to begin the season.  The loss also drops Longwood to 1-5 overall.

Junior guard and Big South Pre-Season All-Conference First-Team selection Kaylah Keys led the charge for the Panthers with 26 points.  These types of performances are essentially becoming a regular occurrence for the former Big South Freshman of the Year.  This season she will attempt to lead her team back to the Big South Conference Championship game, despite being the only returning starter from 2014-15.

Freshman guard Lindsey Edwards had her best collegiate game with 18 points on six of nine field goal attempts.

HPU was able to dominate the third stanza 26-17 behind 12 straight points from Edwards.

“Lindsey Edwards is going to be very special.  I think she is just now realizing that she can be really good,” said High Point Head Coach DeUnna Hendrix.  “She’s just now tapping into her potential, and she is a spark for us coming off of the bench.  She is getting more comfortable each game.  Lindsey looks like a dominant scorer right now, but once she gets better on defense, she is going to be one of the best players in this league.”

HPU built a 64-47 lead before Longwood began a late 12-3 run. The Lancers cut the deficit to as low as 6 but the Panthers were able to hold on and take the victory 79-68.

Redshirt-junior guard Daeisha Brown led the Lancers in scoring with 20 points.

Junior forward Eboni Gilliam led the Lancers in rebounds with 7 in the first half.  She finished with 11 rebounds and 8 points.

Despite coming up short, Longwood Head Coach Bill Reinson was pleased with his team’s effort late in the second half to make it a close game.  “We were finally able to find the right mix of people in the late third and early fourth quarter,” Reinson said.  “We came back from about 20 points down, and cut it to six at one point.  We really just ran out of time and had to foul, but I think that stretch of play is what we are looking for moving forward.”

HPU had a huge advantage scoring off turnovers scoring 20 points off of 18 turnovers.

Kaylah Keys carried the load for the panthers in the first half with 14 points. HPU held the lead for most of the first half but relinquished it for a 4 minute stretch before capturing a 9-0 run late in the second quarter. HPU led 34-30 at the half despite losing the rebound margin 27-17.  Both teams are shot poorly from the perimeter.  HPU shot 2 of 11 and Longwood shot 4 of 11 from three point territory.  The two sides also struggled at the free throw line in the first half, as the two teams shot 4 out of 10 combined at the charity strike.

Freshman forward Shea Morgan also added 12 points for HPU.

“At halftime we addressed the fact that we really needed to get rebounds and defensive stops,” said Morgan.  “I think that was the key to our run in the third quarter.”

With the win, the Panthers have now won nine consecutive games against Longwood.  Both teams play their upcoming games at home on Saturday, December 4th against Big South foes.  HPU will face Radford and Longwood will take on Presbyterian.