Site: Indianapolis, Ind. (Hinkle Fieldhouse)
Score: Butler 74, High Point 52
Records: BU: 7-3, HPU: 2-6
Next HPU Event: Saturday, Dec. 21 — at UNCG (Greensboro, N.C) 4 p.m.
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Senior Camryn Brown led the team in scoring for the second-straight contest but, but her 19 points weren’t enough in High Point University’s 74-52 loss to Butler University on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 15). It was also a landmark game for Brown, taking the court in her 100th career game in a High Point uniform. Junior transfer Chyna McMichel had the opportunity to play in front of a friendly crowd in her hometown and matched her career-high in rebounds with four.
“I’m proud of our girls because they played hard the whole game,” head coach Chelsea Banbury said after the game. “I give Butler a lot of credit. They executed well and defended very well. They made us work for every shot we took and got us out of our rhythm. Despite the score, our girls did fight and got a little tougher today.”
Butler took a 6-0 lead to start but High Point answered with four straight to make it 6-4 just over two minutes into the game. The Panthers went cold from the floor after that, going 2-13 the rest of the quarter. The Bulldogs scored seven straight and then had another 7-0 run with four points for HPU in between. The teams traded baskets in the final minute to end the quarter with the Panthers down 22-11.
High Point shot better in the second quarter, but not by much. HPU connected on 25% of its attempts in the frame to Butler’s 62.5%. The Bulldogs saw their lead grow throughout the second, going on a 9-1 run in the last five minutes to lead 40-20 at the half. The Purple and White struggled in the latter half of the second, hitting their final field goal of the half with 4:57 showing on the clock.
The Panthers’ shot much better in the second half, connecting on half of their shots. However, the struggles continued from outside the arc, with HPU going 1-10 from deep in the second half and 0-6 in the final quarter. Sophomore Skyler Curran got hot in a big way after the break, scoring 13 of her 16 points in the second half before fouling out with 50 seconds remaining.
Brown also had the majority of her points in the second half, scoring 10 of them in the third and fourth quarters, with seven coming in the third. She led the team in triples, making four of the team’s five deep balls in the game. Freshman Amaria McNear stepped up on the glass in Mya Bull’s absence, collecting a career-high seven rebounds to lead the team.
High Point returns to action on Saturday (Dec. 21) with a game in the Triad at UNCG. It’s the last non-conference contest for HPU before opening Big South action on the road at Campbell after Christmas on Dec. 28 and at Winthrop on New Year’s Eve.