High Point University Women’s Basketball Completes Comeback Victory at Radford

Site: Radford, Va. (Dedmon Center)
Score: High Point 64, Radford 63
Records: HPU 12-13 (10-6 Big South), RAD 13-12 (11-5 Big South)
Next HPU Event: Tuesday, Feb. 25 — at Presbyterian (Clinton, S.C.), 2 p.m.

RADFORD, Va. – The High Point University women’s basketball team defeated Radford University 64-63 on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 22) in the Panthers’ first victory this season after trailing at halftime. Senior Camryn Brown led the way with 26 points, the seventh time this season she’s reached the 20-point threshold.

“I’m really happy with our team’s effort to get a win on the road today,” head coach Chelsea Banbury said after the win. “We had some breakdowns but fortunately we made enough plays to win. Cam was excellent for us again today and came up huge down the stretch. Z stepped up defensively when Sky was in foul trouble and did a good job guarding the post.”

The two teams traded runs in the opening quarter, starting with High Point taking a 5-2 lead in the opening 2:30. Radford answered with seven straight before a pair of free throws from Brown and sophomore Skyler Curran tied things back up at 9-9. The Highlanders countered with a 9-2 run to lead by seven. The Panthers fought back to cut the deficit to four, 18-14, at the end of the quarter thanks to a trio of free throws from junior Chyna McMichel.

HPU regained the lead for the first time since three minutes into the game 3:30 into the second quarter on back-to-back triples from Curran. Brown was able to get inside for a layup and Curran hit her third triple to push the Purple and White’s lead to five at 29-24 with half the quarter remaining.

High Point’s lead didn’t last long, as Radford scored eight straight to retake the lead with just over a minute remaining. Brown picked up another layup with 70 seconds remaining in the half to make it a one-point game but neither team scored in the final minute.

Radford opened the second half with a 9-0 run to take a 10-point lead, Radford’s largest of the game. The Panthers scored seven straight, kickstarted by a triple from freshman Callie Scheier, to cut the deficit to three and added another run of five with a triple from Zaria Wright to make it a three-point game again after Radford pushed its lead back to eight. The Highlanders knocked down a pair of free throws with a minute remaining for the final points of the quarter, taking a five-point lead into the fourth.

Brown scored HPU’s first five points of the fourth to make it a one-point affair and the Panthers took the lead again just over three minutes into the final frame on a layup from McMichel. Radford retook the lead shortly after with an old-fashioned three-point play but Wright found her way inside to tie things up with 5:48 to play.

The lead switched hands four times in the next three minutes, flipping back to High Point’s lead with 2:36 left when Brown converted on a pair of free throws, making it 61-60. Neither team scored again until the final minute when the hosts took the lead with 58 ticks left on the clock. Brown answered with a layup of her own with 10 seconds left and then was fouled with 17 seconds remaining and hit one of her shots for a two-point Panther lead, 64-62.

Radford was fouled with three seconds remaining, giving the Highlanders a chance to tie things up. They hit the first free throw but missed the second and grabbed the offensive rebound. High Point’s defense collapsed well, preventing Radford from getting a good look at the basket as time expired to secure the victory.

HPU stays on the road on Tuesday (Feb. 25), traveling to Presbyterian for the Panthers’ final road game of the regular season. Then High Point returns home next Saturday (Feb. 29) to start a three-game homestand to finish out the season.