PC improves to 17-10 overall and 12-4 in the Big South. The Blue Hose hit the road next week for the final two contests of the regular season, beginning with a Thursday night matchup against Radford at 7 p.m. High Point moves to 15-12 and 9-7 in the league and will host Campbell on Thursday at 7 p.m.
The game saw two big momentum swings. PC rallied from a first-half deficit to lead by as many as 13 in the second, when a 15-2 High Point run evened the score. From there, the two sides battled until PC pulled away in the final minutes to take its first-ever win over the Panthers to snap a 10-game losing streak.
With the game tied and 46 seconds left in the game, 64-64, Dria David (Lawrenceville, Ga.) delivered a senior memory to remember. The guard drove for a layup that beat the shot clock with three seconds remaining before taking a charge that forced leading scorer Cheyenne Parker's fifth foul.
David made free throw on the other end to put PC up 67-64 and the Blue Hose would close it out at the line from there.
On a night to honor its seniors, PC's fourth-year players delivered. David scored 16 of her team-high 20 points in the second half while Shonda Burnside (Gray Court, S.C.) grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Mariah Pietrowski (Elizabethton, Tenn.) added 17 points while Devin Fothergill (Somerset, Ky.) collected five rebounds. PC received 25 points from its bench and shot 43.5 percent (20-for-46) on the night.
The Blue Hose trailed by seven with 12:13 left in the first half and turned on the jets to come back, leading 29-23 at halftime thanks to a 12-0 to close the frame. PC held the Panthers without a field goal for the last 6:52 of the half en route to the lead.
PC played catch-up for much of the early going, getting to within a possession several times before High Point pulled away.
A Pietrowski layup on a Chelsea Parker (Asheville, N.C.) assist gave the Blue Hose its first lead of the game, 24-23, at the 3:15 mark.
A clever backdoor cut play led to an uncontested Noelle Carter (Neptune, N.J.) bucket that gave PC a three-point lead and Parker extended the advantage to five with a jumper to beat the shot clock.
Pietrowski's nine points led all players at the break and the Blue Hose shot 45.8 percent (11-for-24) to the Panthers' 32.0 percent (8-for-25). PC also took care of the ball, allowing only five turnovers to High Point's 10.
The Blue Hose came out of the break swinging. PC's lead swelled to 13, its largest of the night, on a key hustle play. Pietrowski grabbed an offensive rebound, dished it to a wide-open David and the senior guard cashed in by draining a wide-open three to make the score 41-28.
High Point answered, however, scoring the next 13 to pull even midway through the half. A Cheyenne Parker three-point play on a free-throw gave the visitors their first lead since late in the first half.
David and Devin Fothergill layups tied the tilt at 45-45 and 47-47 until PC strung together five points-capped Taylor's fourth trey of the night-to take a 52-47 lead with under six minutes left.
Both teams swapped buckets as PC's lead hovered around five down the stretch.
A bank shot pulled High Point within three and a Patterson three tied the game with just over a minute left, setting up David's heroics.
Prior to the game, the team honored seniors Shonda Burnside, Dria David, Devin Fothergill, Chelsea Parker, Mariah Pietrowski and Olivia Towers-Solis. The six have combined for 610 games, 3,505 points and 2,166 rebounds in their time at PC.
