High Point takes on Radford in Big South quarters/Panthers take on Providence Friars’ Men’s Lacrosse on Saturday morning

High Point takes on Radford in Big South quarters

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The High Point University women’s basketball team faces off with No. 3 Radford in Kimmel Arena at 8 p.m. for a spot in the Big South Tournament semifinals.

The Panthers (12-18, 10-10) opened their postseason with a 73-55 victory over No. 11 Winthrop on Thursday night. The Highlanders (17-12, 13-7) meanwhile enjoyed their bye on Thursday.

Junior Kaylah Keys led the Purple & White with 22 points on 8-10 shooting in 21 minutes to lead a balanced attack that saw 10 players score. Behind 11 boards from freshman Haleigh Hatfield, HPU earned a season-best 59 rebounds in the victory.

Big South’s Best Scorer
• Kaylah Keys led the Big South in scoring this season with 14.9 points per game.

• The Southaven, Miss. native is the leading active scorer in the conference (1,473 points) after passing Liberty’s Ashley Riniger in January.

• The junior led the team with 22 points on 8-10 shooting in just 21 minutes on Thursday night against Winthrop.

Keys’ Climb
• Kaylah Keys passed former Coastal Carolina star A.J. Jordan and Liberty’s Avery Warley to move into a tie with Charleston Southern Lakeitha Alston for 22nd on the Big South’s career scoring list.

• The guard moved ahead of Dee Pennix and Anita Stanton on HPU’s all-time scoring list. Keys is now sitting in seventh and 117 points behind Shamia Brown – the Division I scoring leader.

Youth Movement
• The Purple & White have relied heavily on its seven freshmen with all of them appearing in at least 23 contests while Haleigh Hatfield and Emma Bockrath started all 30 games this season.

• The freshmen class has accounted for 56 percent of the team’s points (1,086-1,960) and rebounds (607-1,078) this season.

• Six of the squad’s nine players to average 10.0 minutes per game are freshmen.

All-Time Series with Radford
• HPU leads the series 26-16 and have won seven of the last 10 contests.

• The Panthers are 21-13 against Radford as Big South foes.

• High Point is 2-0 all-time in the Big South Tournament against Radford

How They’ve Faired in 2015-16
• In their first meeting of the season, High Point earned a 71-66 win over Radford in the Millis Center. Lindsey Edwards led four Panthers in double figures with 14 points in the victory.

• The Purple & White completed the sweep of the Highlanders with a triumph at the buzzer in the Dedmon Center. Kat Harris hit a layup as time expired to give HPU a 56-54 win.

Next Up
With a victory, HPU would move into the semifinals to play the winner of No. 7 Charleston Southern versus No. 2 Liberty on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

Panthers entertain Friars on Saturday morning

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University men’s lacrosse team hosts Providence on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Vert Stadium.

The Panthers (3-3) are looking to extend their three-game winning streak and earn its first win against a Big EAST squad. Meanwhile, the Friars (3-2) have won their last two contests as well.

Free Admission
For the second week in a row, admission is free to watch High Point take on Providence.

Last Time Out
• High Point finished its 11-9 victory over Marist on a 4-0 run to tally the season’s first home win.

• Dan Lomas and Matt Thistle scored two goals apiece in the final run to give High Point the triumph. Both seniors finished the contest with three goals and one assist to lead the attack.

• Jamie Piluso dominated at the face-off ‘X’ going 18-23 while picking up 10 ground balls. Adam Seal grabbed four ground balls as the Panthers garnered a 37-18 margin on the ground.

• The defensive seniors had huge days as well for the Panthers. Zack Price caused three Marist turnovers while Joseph Taulane and Richard Byrd were credited with two each. In the end the squad tallied a season-best 13 caused turnovers.

• Dallas Bridle posted his second straight multi-goal performance with two goals on four shots. Peyton Garrett equaled his career high with two points by dishing out two assists.

• Michael LeClair registered one goal and one assist to become the third Panther in program history to reach 100 career points.

• Matt Siegmund and Zach Tuell split time in goal combining for seven saves, three ground ball and two caused turnovers to help the team earn a huge victory.

LeClair Reaching New Heights
• Michael LeClair posted two points in the win over Marist to become the third Panther to score 100 career points joining Matt Thistle and Dan Lomas

• The Elkridge, Md. native has tallied at least one point in 32 consecutive contests, which is the eighth-longest active streak in the nation.

Active National Leaders
• Senior Dan Lomas is second among active players nationally with 139 career goals. The Burlington, Ontario native also ranks 14th in the nation in career points (157).

• Just ahead of Lomas in career points is senior Matt Thistle with 168 – good for sixth nationally. He’s second in assists (90).

• Senior Jamie Piluso leads all active players in face-offs won (553) and ground balls (280).

Three-Headed Attack
• The trio of Dan Lomas, Matt Thistle and Michael LeClair has accounted for 342 points of HPU’s 621 points (55 percent) over the last two-plus seasons.

• All three were among top-five scorers in the SoCon last season and have picked up where they left off. LeClair leads the league (3.8/g) while Lomas and Thistle are tied for second (3.5/g).

All-Time Against Providence
• Saturday is the first meeting between the two programs.

• The Panthers are 0-1 against current members of the Big EAST with a 14-6 setback to Marquette in 2013.

Next Up
The Purple & White open Southern Conference action on the road at Air Force on Saturday, March 19 in USAFA, Colorado.