HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women’s basketball team defeated Presbyterian, 79-40, Thursday, Jan. 10, in the Millis Center.
High Point (9-5, 2-1) out-shot Presbyterian (3-11, 1-2) 45.8 (27-59) percent-36.8 (14-38) percent. The Panthers made a season-high 13 threes, which is the most made 3-pointers by an HPU team since making 18 against UNC Asheville on March 6, 2011.
The Panthers grabbed 39 rebounds and dished out 20 assists, while the Blue Hose logged 27 rebounds and nine assists. The Panthers scored 23 points off 21 Blue Hose turnovers.
“I felt like tonight was a good night for us,” head coach DeUnna Hendrix said. “I’m really, really proud of the maturity of our team and to be able to bounce back in a day and go into this game focused and ready to go. Just to have so many contributions from so many different people, it was definitely a mature effort on our part.”
Freshman Skyler Curran scored a game-high 15 points, 12 of which came in the second half. Curran shot 5-9 (55.5 percent) from behind the arc, which tied her season-high. Senior Shea Morgan and junior Olivia VanSlooten led the Panthers with seven rebounds apiece, while seniors Emma Bockrath and Bre Davis were tops on the team in assists with six. Davis added a season-high nine points. All nine players scored at least five points for High Point.
The Panthers jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter. HPU held Presbyterian without a made field goal for the first 9 minutes and 15 seconds of the game. High Point took a 19-6 lead into the second quarter. HPU then went on a 9-3 run to stretch the lead to 28-9 to begin the second quarter and brought a 43-19 into halftime.
In the first half, the Purple & White shot 46.7 (14-30) percent from the field and 50.0 (7-14) percent from three, while the Blue Hose made 28.6 (6-21) percent of their shots from the field and 22.2 (2-9) from three. High Point dished out 11 first half assists and forced 10 PC turnovers.
HPU held Presbyterian to six points in both the first and fourth quarters, which is the lowest number of points scored in a quarter by a division I High Point opponent this season.
The Purple & White out-scored Presbyterian in bench points (35-17), fast break points (6-3) and second chance points (9-0). The Panthers led for the entirety of the game and finished the game with their largest lead of 39 points.
Up next, the Panthers will travel to Boiling Springs, N.C. to take on Gardner-Webb on Saturday, Jan. 12. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. on Gardner-Webb’s campus