HPU WBB Returns Home To Host Campbell On Monday

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women’s basketball team returns home to host Campbell in a critical Big South contest on Monday at 7 p.m. inside the Millis Center.

The Panthers (7-6, 3-1) will be back home for the first time after playing four consecutive road games since their win over UNCG on Dec. 8. The team will be looking for its 12th straight home win as it entertains the Camels (8-5, 3-1).

Last Time Out:
The Purple & White went on the road for a battle of unbeaten Big South teams and fell 64-47 to Liberty in the Vines Center on Saturday. HPU opened the scoring with a 3-pointer from sophomore Kaylah Keys on the opening possession, but the Flames responded with a 20-2 run and maintained their lead for the remainder of the game.

The Panthers pulled within nine when redshirt-senior Lindsay Puckett knocked down a triple with 18 minutes remaining in the second half, however Liberty had the answer and immediately stretched its lead out to 24 with nine minutes left and was able to cruise from there.

Once again, Keys led HPU in scoring with 11 points while also posting three assists. Redshirt-senior Stacia Robertson battled Liberty’s size inside and posted seven points, eight rebounds, three steals and one block. Senior Latrice Phelps chipped in with seven points and six rebounds in the loss.

The Flames defense caused problems for the Panthers’ offense and held them to a season-low 47 points on 12-of-57 (21.1 percent) from the floor and 4-of-14 (28.6 percent) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Liberty went 24-of-56 (42.9 percent) from the field while posting a 34-12 advantage in points in the paint. HPU couldn’t overcome Liberty’s height and was outrebounded 64-47. Behind three steals each from Robertson, senior Ashante Richard and sophomore Maja Michalska, HPU won the turnover battle 24-16, but couldn’t get into transition enough to earn the victory.

The Opponent:
Like HPU, Campbell is off to a 3-1 start in Big South competition after its 65-58 comeback win at Longwood on Saturday. The win gave the Camels three straight wins overall, as well as a three-game winning streak in conference play.

On Saturday, the Camels were paced by freshman Summer Price who shot 6-of-10 from the floor en route to a 22-point performance. Sophomore forward Amanda Coffer had 15 points against Longwood and is now averaging 14.5 points per game, which is good for third-highest average in the league.

Coffer isn’t the only Campbell player near the top in the Big South statistical rankings. Redshirt-junior RaeChaun Edwards leads the conference with 6.33 assists per game and is also third in steals with 2.17 per contest. Likewise, senior Kiera Gaines is fifth in the league with 8.8 rebounds and third with 2.85 steals per outing.

The Camels are outrebounding their opponents by six boards per game and they lead the Big South with 16.38 assists a game. However, the team has struggled to defend the 3-point shot allowing opponents to shoot 35.6 percent from beyond the arc, which is tied for last in the league. On the other hand, Campbell shoots just 27.1 percent from 3-point land themselves despite Coffer hitting 36.4 of her 3-point attempts.

Panther Notes:

• The Panthers lead the all-time series with the Camels by a 24-10 margin. HPU has a chance to win its fourth straight game in the series after sweeping Campbell in the regular season before also winning the teams’ matchup in the Big South Tournament semifinals.

• High Point is 37-11 (.771) in the Millis Center since the start of the 2011-12 season. The Panthers went 11-3 at home last season and currently have a 11-game home winning streak stretching back to last season, which is the third longest in the program’s Div. 1 history. The record is a 19-game streak from Jan. ‘05 – Feb. ‘06 and the next home game could put these Panthers into a tie for the second longest streak, tying the 12-game streak from Dec. ‘06 – Dec. ‘07.

• Stacia Robertson has been stuffing the stat sheet like no other player in the country, literally. The redshirt-senior entered the Liberty game as the only player in the country to average at least 10 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and three steals per contest. She is just one rebound below that pace now averaging 9.9 rebounds per outing.

• Kaylah Keys and Stacia Robertson form the highest-scoring tandem in the Big South. The inside-outside
duo is averaging 30.0 points a game. Keys leads the league with 15.7 PPG while Robertson is fouth with 14.3.

• Kaylah Keys has posted 20 or more points 14 times in just 24 career Big South regular season contests. She has scored in double figures in all but one of her 24 Big South games and is averaging 19.8 points per conference game in her career.

Up Next:
HPU will return to the road on Thursday as it travels to Charleston Southern for a game at 7 p.m. The team will be back home on Saturday to host Winthrop at 2 p.m. inside the Millis Center.