High Point Women’s Basketball Record Falls in Season-Opening Loss at Duke:HPU Dukes it out with Duke and Duke comes out on top

Site: Durham, N.C. (Cameron Indoor Stadium)
Score: Duke 93, High Point 57
Records: DU: 1-0, HPU: 0-1
Next HPU Event: Sunday, Nov. 10 — vs. College of Charleston (Millis Center; High Point, N.C.), 2 p.m.
Courtesy of Joe Templin:Assistant Director of Athletic Communications High Point University

DURHAM, N.C. — The Chelsea Banbury era of High Point University women’s basketball officially got underway on Tuesday, Nov. 5 with a 93-57 loss to Duke University. It was the second time that High Point has played at Cameron Indoor Stadium since Duke’s program gained varsity status, with the first coming Nov. 16, 2017. HPU attempted 40 three-pointers in the game, setting a new program record for three-point attempts in a single game.

“We’re going to take this as a learning experience,” Banbury said after her first game as a head coach. I did see some good things our team did out there. Duke’s a good team, I give them credit. They’re physical, they play fast, and they hit a lot of shots, so that was tough for us. But we did do some good things when we played together, we had good ball movement, and we looked like a pretty good team too. From here we just have to build on that.”

Banbury came to High Point with an offense centered around three-point shots and that was evident from the start of the game. The Panthers’ 40 attempted shots from behind the arc in the game shattered the old school record of 33, set three times and most recently against Greensboro College last season.

“I don’t think that we shot all good threes,” Banbury continued. “I would say a lot of them were we just started settling and we just threw it up there. I don’t think we should have shot 40 threes today but we will shoot a lot of threes. If they’re open, I expect our kids to shoot them.”

Five different players hit from beyond the arc, led by senior Camryn Brown with four makes. Everyone tried to get in on the action, with each Panther attempting at least two three-pointers in the game.

While the looks were there the points weren’t as plentiful. HPU attempted 25 triples in the first half with only six of the 25 attempts falling and eight of the 37 from all parts of the floor for a 21.6% shooting percentage. Duke connected at double that rate, shooting 47.4% to hold a 48-29 lead at the half. The second half saw a little more success for High Point, connecting on 12 of 35 attempts from the floor for 34.3% while the Blue Devils dropped off just a bit, to 42.4%

Four different Panthers connected from three-point land in the first, with Brown and sophomore Skyler Curran each connecting twice and redshirt sophomore Zaria Wright and true freshman Callie Scheier each scoring their first points in the Purple and White. Brown added a free throw to lead the team at the break with seven points.

The third quarter was the closest of the four, with Duke narrowly edging HPU 29-20 in it. Brown hit three shots in the quarter, including one from long range, to lead the team with seven points in the third. Redshirt sophomore Danielle Deoul joined in on the three-point party with her first points of the season coming on a triple. The Panthers shot their best in the third, hitting 40.9% of their shots. However, Duke’s stingy defense caused problems for High Point in the fourth quarter, holding the Panthers to just eight points and forcing as many turnovers.

HPU is back in action on Sunday, Nov. 10 for its home opener against the College of Charleston. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. against the Cougars and can be seen live on ESPN+.

#GoHPU

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Joe Templin | Assistant Director of Athletic Communications