High Point Women’s Basketball Drops Heartbreaker in Final Second to Campbell

Site: High Point, N.C. (Millis Center)
Score: Campbell 68, High Point 66
Records: CU: 17-5 (12-1 Big South), HPU: 11-12 (9-5 Big South)
Next HPU Event: Saturday, Feb. 15 — vs. Gardner-Webb (Millis Center, High Point, N.C.), 4 p.m.

HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women’s basketball team led for the majority of the contest but saw Campbell University fight back to defeat the Panthers in the final second of the game, 68-66, on Tuesday night (Feb. 11). Senior Camryn Brown led the team with 24 points for her second-straight 20-point game but fouled out with 4:37 left in the game, leaving a hole in High Point’s offense, with HPU only scoring two points in her absence.

“I think we played pretty well for a good portion of the game but we had some breakdowns, especially in transition, that Campbell capitalized on,” head coach Chelsea Banbury said after the loss. “They ran the floor, they knocked down threes when they needed to, and they were able to go on a run, so credit goes to them. We got up but they kept fighting and we didn’t really have an answer.”

Campbell’s staunch defense was on display early in the game, holding High Point to just one field goal for the first six minutes. The Fighting Camels hit two threes during that time to build a 10-3 lead to start the game. The Panthers’ offensive fortunes changed late in the quarter, scoring nine straight to take the lead, 12-10. Redshirt freshman Jenson Edwards sparked the run with a triple and Skyler Curran dropped in a pair of layups to close out the run. CU was able to answer with a layup of its own to knot the game at 12 heading into the second.

The teams traded buckets to start the second before Campbell scored seven straight to take a five-point lead, 23-18. Brown drilled a three to stop the run and ignited a run for the Panthers shortly after with another three, followed by an old-fashioned three-point play from Curran to retake the lead. The Fighting Camels tied things up with a three of their own before redshirt sophomore Zaria Wright was fouled taking a three in the corner to get to the line to take a trio of foul shots. HPU’s best free throw shooter connected on all three to give the Purple and White a three-point, 32-29, lead heading into halftime.

Danielle Deoul got inside for easy layups on back-to-back possessions to start the third quarter before Campbell was able to get on the board in the second half with its own layup. That led to an 8-2 run for the Panthers, will all eight points coming off the hands of Brown. She started with a triple and then after the Camels’ only points of the run she converted on an and-one and knocked down a mid-range jumper to push the lead to double digits, 44-33.

Brown switched up and made her presence felt from passing, finding Chyna McMichel inside for a layup and then hitting Wright with a court-length baseball pass before knocking down a step-back three. Brown’s three was part of the teams trading triples, each team knocking down two each on consecutive possessions. Curran hit her first three of the game with a minute left in the quarter to keep the lead in double digits, and the Panthers led by 12 entering the fourth, 59-47.

Campbell came out determined in the fourth, starting the quarter on a 14-5 run to cut High Point’s lead to just three, 64-61. Brown picked up her fifth and final foul of the game on the next possession with 4:37 left to exit, and the Camels hit one of their following two free throws to make it a two-point game. CU tied it up with just under four minutes left.

The score remained tied until the final minute when Courtney Meadows stole the ball and made it count with a layup on the break at the other end. The lead was short-lived as Campbell answered with a layup to tie things right back up.

It came down to the final possession for both teams and Curran took it for the Panthers, with her shot rattling off the iron and into the defender’s hands with 2.4 seconds left. The Fighting Camels took their final timeout to advance the ball and found a player in space on the inbound to hit the go-ahead bucket with just 0.4 seconds showing on the clock. High Point advanced the ball with its final timeout and a last-ditch lob to Curran from Wright looking for a tip was stolen by the defense to give Campbell the win and ruin the Panthers’ unbeaten run in conference play at home.

HPU outshot Campbell in every quarter except the final when the Purple and White only scored seven points. High Point finished shooting 47.1% from the floor to outshoot the Fighting Camels (40.4%) and suffer the Panthers’ first loss this season when shooting above 40% in a game.

High Point returns to action at the Millis Center on Saturday (Feb. 15) when Gardner-Webb comes to town for a rematch at 4 p.m. The Panthers have next Tuesday off before hitting the road for their final two road games of the regular season, heading to Radford on Feb. 22 and then Presbyterian on Feb. 25 before closing out the season with three home games at the Millis Center.