FARMVILLE, Va. — High Point shot nearly 56 percent after halftime to break open a tight game, going on for a 68-54 win over the Longwood women's basketball team at the Joan Perry Brock Center on Saturday.
HPU's Macy Spencer scored 11 of her game-high 22 points in the second half and Neveah Zavala added 10 of her 15 after the break as the Panthers rallied to stay unbeaten in the Big South at 5-0, while improving to 16-2 overall.
"I think High Point is a great basketball program," Longwood head Erika Lang-Montgomery said. "Very solid defensively. I think they really made us work. We've got people that can shoot the ball and they challenged us on every shot. I really feel like offensively we were a little stagnant at times. Didn't move the ball as crisply as we've moved it in other games, and ultimately, we didn't get to the free-throw line enough today.
"This is the type of game that you would expect between two quality basketball teams," Lang-Montgomery continued. "I thought we were going basket for basket. In that first half, I think it was a three-point game. I think both teams were defensively solid. Their style of defense is a little bit different than ours, but I think both teams were making stops when they needed to."
Longwood hung with High Point in the opening 20 minutes, trailing by just a 13-12 margin after the first quarter and 30-27 at the break in a first half that featured eight lead changes and two tie scores.
Jasmine Peaks scored 11 points to lead Longwood (13-5, 4-1 Big South), which saw its season-long, seven-game winning streak come to an end.
The Panthers used a 17-4 run over an eight-minute stretch in the third quarter for separation, building a 47-31 advantage with two minutes remaining in the period when Spencer hit a driving layup.
The lead grew to as many as 19 at 59-40 with a Brecken Snotherly offensive rebound and putback with 6:15 remaining before the Lancers attempted a comeback. Five quick points by Frances Ulysse and a steal and 3-pointer by Jesstynie Scott brought Longwood to within 59-45 with just less than four minutes left.
High Point opened the game with nine of the first 11 points before Amor Harris hit a triple and Jaci Bolden a layup to get within two points in the early going. JaMya Robinson continued the Longwood run with a 3-pointer of her own at the 1:43 mark for the Lancers' first lead of the day at 10-9. Peaks followed with a layup in transition to extend the lead to three points.
Trailing 22-17 with six minutes on the clock in the second quarter, Peaks hit a jumper in the paint and Robinson another trey to pull even. Peaks followed with a 3 of her own at 4:29 to make it 25-22 Longwood.
Aaliyah Collins and Anna Häger each hit two free throws with less than two minutes remaining in the half to retake a 26-25 lead.
Otaifo Esenabhalu responded with an offensive rebound and score for the lead again at 27-26 with 65 seconds left in half, the Lancers last edge of the day.
Snotherly finished with 10 points and nine rebounds for High Point, while Esenabhalu had her consecutive double-double streak snapped at five games. She had eight points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Longwood is at Radford Wednesday at 7 p.m., on ESPN+.
