HIGH POINT, N.C. – Gardner-Webb trailed by 10 points with 6:11 remaining in the third quarter but rallied to force overtime before falling to the High Point Panthers, 78-70, on the road on Saturday afternoon.

After shooting just 23.3 percent (7-of-30) in the first two quarters but hitting 10-of-14 free throws, the Runnin' Bulldogs began to heat up in the third period.

Carley Plentovich single-handedly cut into more than half of the Panthers' lead with back-to-back three-pointers. Plentovich's trey with 4:51 remaining in the third made it a four-point contest, 43-39.

Savannah Plentovich, followed her sister's hot shooting and scored five straight points to give Gardner-Webb the lead. S. Plentovich's layup, followed by a three-pointer with 3:27 remaining in the quarter, put the Runnin' Bulldogs up a point, 44-43.

High Point (18-7, 11-3 Big South) retook a brief lead, but Neydja Petithomme beat the buzzer, and after three periods Gardner-Webb (14-13, 8-7 BSC) led by a point, 47-46.

The lead changed teams twice over the first five minutes of the final quarter of regulation. With 4:31 to play, C. Plentovich connected from deep, giving the 'Dogs a four-point lead, but a 7-0 Panthers run put HPU back in front.

C. Plentovich would continue to lead the 'Dogs, hitting another triple, one of seven she made in the contest, and tying the game at 59 with under three minutes remaining. As a team, Gardner-Webb went 8-of-23 from beyond the arc with C. Plentovich alone attempting 16 and making seven.

High Point pulled ahead by three, 62-59, but fouled S. Plentovich on a three-point attempt with 38 seconds remaining. The junior from Clearwater, Fla. made all three free throws to tie the game.

Gardner-Webb missed two free throws with three seconds left, while High Points' Camryn Brown could not connect from three-point land as time expired.

In overtime, the Panthers took the lead five seconds after the jump ball and never looked back.

After a High Point run, Gardner-Webb never got closer than four, and the Panthers led by as many as 10 points with 26 seconds left.

S. Plentovich's layup in the final seconds cut High Point's lead to single digits, but the Panthers earned a 78-70 victory.

C. Plentovich led the Runnin' Bulldogs with 31 points on 10-of-24 shooting. She hit 7-of-16 three-pointers and went 4-for-4 at the charity stripe. S. Plentovich contributed 20 points and went 9-of-9 at the free throw line. Ky'Asia Stanford was one point away from being the third Runnin' Bulldog in double figures. Gardner-Webb shot just 29.2 percent for the game (21-of-72) but missed only seven free throws (20-for-27).

High Point's Bria Gibson scored a team-high 24 points, while Lindsey Edwards (18 points), Shea Morgan (11 points) and Emma Bockrath (10 points) also reached double doubles. Bockrath recorded the lone double-double for the Panthers. The Panthers shot 38 percent (27-of-71) in the win.

The Runnin' Bulldogs will conclude a two-game road swing with a 7 p.m. game at Charleston Southern on Tuesday, February 26. The Big South Conference battle can be seen on ESPN+.