BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb held a two-point lead over the High Point Panthers at the half, but the Panthers outscored the Runnin' Bulldogs 19-5 in the third quarter to earn a 78-61 win.

After starting Big South Conference play a perfect 2-0, the Runnin' Bulldogs fell to 8-7 overall and 2-1 in conference play, while High Point improved to 10-5 and 3-1 in Big South action.

High Point led by a point at the end of first, but Gardner-Webb outscored the Panthers by four points in the second period to take the lead at the half.

In the second quarter, the Runnin' Bulldogs tied the game at 23 points off a Carley Plentovich three-pointer with 5:46 remaining and took the lead 39 seconds later when Plentovich hit a jumper.

The lead would change hands three times with High Point eventually regaining control, but Neydja Petithomme's old-fashioned three-point play gave the 'Dogs a 33-32 lead, which increased to three-points by the intermission thanks to Jhessyka Williams' layup with under a minute remaining.

It was a tale of two halves for Gardner-Webb, as the Runnin' Bulldogs managed just five points in the third quarter, while the Panthers nearly quadrupled that by putting up 19 points.

After a C. Plentovich free throw cut High Point's lead to one, 39-38, with 5:49 left in the quarter, the Panthers  used a 13-0 run over 3:20 to take a 52-38 lead. A fastbreak layup by Williams cut HPU's advantage to 12 with one quarter remaining.

The Runnin' Bulldogs were unable to begin a comeback in the final period with the Panthers leading by 20 points on two occasions – once with 6:58 remaining and again with 4:14 showing on the clock. Gardner-Webb could never get closer than 17 points over the last four minutes of action, falling 78-61.

C. Plentovich was the only Runnin' Bulldog to score in double figures, scoring 16 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the field. Petithomme added nine points and seven assists.

High Point's Shea Morgan led all players with 17 points. Morgan also dished out eight assists and grabbed five rebounds. Three other Panthers – Camryn Brown (15 points), Emma Bockrath (15 points) and Bria Gibson (14 points) – also reached double figures.

Gardner-Webb shot 29.6 percent (8-of-27) in the second half, while High Point missed just nine of its second half shots (20-of-29) and shot a hot 69 percent over the final two quarters. For the game, the Runnin' Bulldogs finished 19-of-58 from the floor (32.8 percent), while the Panthers shot 33-of-62 (53.2 percent).

The Runnin' Bulldogs will return to action on Tuesday, January 15 at Presbyterian. The Big South Conference contest is set for 6 p.m. in Clinton, SC.