HIGH POINT, N.C. — High Point erased an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to pull out a 61-58 victory against the Longwood women's basketball team in the Big South regular-season finale at the Qubein Center Saturday.

With the game tied, 55-55, with two minutes to go, Adriana Shipp-Davis converted a three-point play to help Longwood regain the lead. Lauren Bevis, though, was fouled on a 3-pointer on the next possession, draining all three free throws for the tie. Bevis then hit two more from the line with 1:24 to play for the lead, before the Lancers had three chances to chances to tie, but none fell.

Following one more HPU free throw, the Lancers had a final opportunity, but a  Shipp-Davis 3-pointer at the horn was off the mark.

"I love how hard our team competed and battled tonight," Longwood head coach Erika Lang-Montgomery said. I hate that we came up short, but I love the effort.

"I think we're playing with more confidence now. That's the thing with experience, it takes time and we've got some games under our belt," Lang-Montgomery said of the difference between the team now and earlier in the season. "Even the losses were close losses and so I think we are trusting the process. This team loves each other, I think that's the biggest thing. Even through our adversity this year, this team has continued to stay together and love each other."

Malea Brown paced Longwood with 13 points, adding seven rebounds and three assists as the Lancers' three-game winning streak came to an end. Longwood (9-20) earned the No. 7 seed in the Big South tournament and will face second-seeded USC Upstate Thursday at 6 p.m., back at the Qubein Center.

The Lancers led nearly the entire way on Saturday, pouncing on High Point from the start. Longwood bolted to a 21-8 advantage through the first quarter, punctuating the frame with a 3-pointer to beat the horn from Brown. LU carried a 35-26 lead to halftime on the strength of 50 percent shooting and a 22-13 rebounding edge.

Longwood held the Panthers off the scoreboard for the first 5:41 of the third quarter before a Bukky Akinsola free throw broke the drought at 41-27. Bevis made a driving layup at the third-quarter horn to cut the deficit to 45-36.

Otaifo Esenabhalu grabbed the rebound of her own miss and put it back up in in the first minute of the fourth for a 47-36 advantage. Esenabhalu finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds for her second collegiate double-double. 

From there, High Point (19-10, 14-2 Big South), the league's regular-season champion, rallied. Bevis hit a pair of triples to cut it to a 47-44 game with 7:37 to play. Neveah Zavala tied it for the first time at 53-all with 4:10 left prior to Cydney Johnson giving the Panthers their first lead with a layup at the 3:26 mark.

The Lancers responded with jumper by Kiki McIntryre and the Shipp-Davis three-point play to retake the lead.

Shipp-Davis scored 12 points and was the third Longwood player in double figures.