HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women’s basketball looks to get back on track against Gardner-Webb at 4 p.m. on Saturday in the Millis Center on ESPN3.
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The Panthers (8-14, 7-6) need a win against the Runnin’ Bulldogs (15-8, 9-4) to keep pace with the conference leaders in the hunt for a bye in the Big South Tournament. The game will be followed by the High Point men’s basketball team’s contest against Charleston Southern at 7 p.m.
ESPN3 Broadcast
The Purple & White play their first home game on ESPN3 this season. Chris Hemeyer and Jeff Jackson will be on the call at 4 p.m.
Last Time Out
• Nine first-quarter points from junior Kaylah Keys boosted the Panthers to a 16-13 lead after one period in Conway, S.C. on Tuesday night. However, the Chanticleers took over and outscored HPU 66-37 the rest of the way to earn a 79-53 victory.
• Keys finished the game with 21 points. In doing so, the Southaven, Miss. native passed Katie O’Dell and Jurica Hargraves to move into second place on HPU’s Division I scoring list.
• The vital freshmen class had an off night for the Purple & White shooting 7-of-33 (21 percent) against an active CCU zone.
• Freshman Shea Morgan led the Panthers in rebounding with seven boards. But it was the Chanticleers who controlled the glass tallying a 39-30 advantage.
• Sophomore Kat Harris registered seven points and three rebounds while freshman Kyrie’ Chandler came off the bench to hit two three-pointers.
Keys’ Climb
• Along with moving up to second on HPU’s Division I scoring list with 1,340 career points, junior Kaylah Keys sits in ninth on the all-time scoring list.
• Keys has drilled 173 career three-pointers and trails just Jurica Hargraves (226) in the High Point record books.
Home Cookin’
• HPU is 5-4 at home in 2015-16 after going 13-1 in the Millis Center in 2014-15.
• The team is 37-12 under Hendrix at home, including 29-8 in Big South home games. The Panthers are 29-38 on the road during that time.
Scouting Gardner-Webb
• The Runnin’ Bulldogs’ success begins and ends with the inside-out duo of Olivia Parker and Candace Brown. Parker is fourth in the conference in scoring (13.9 ppg) and second in rebounding (8.8 rpg). Outside, Brown is fifth in scoring (13.7 ppg) while ranking in the top 10 in the league in a handful of other categories.
• Sophomores Alexus Hill (11.3 ppg) and Tierra Huntsman (10.7 ppg) give GWU four double-digit scorers. However, the quartet of Parker, Brown, Hill and Huntsman score 78 percent of the team’s points on the season.
• Gardner-Webb is sitting alone in fourth place after losing 54-51 at Radford on Saturday. The Runnin’ Bulldgos couldn’t get their offense rolling against the Highlanders committing 17 turnovers while shooting 35 percent from the floor.
All-Time Series Against the Runnin’ Bulldogs
HPU owns a 17-11 lead in the all-time series against the Runnin’ Bulldogs. The teams are 8-8 in regular season conference meetings.
Last Time They Met
Freshman Emma Bockrath led the Panthers with 17 points and two steals by hitting 7-of-8 shots from the floor as HPU fell 82-70 at Gardner-Webb on Jan. 9.
Next Up
The Panthers are back on the road on Tuesday, Feb. 16 at Longwood for a 7 p.m. tip.