Site: Charleston, S.C. (Buccaneer Fieldhouse)
Score: High Point 71, Charleston Southern 54
Records: HPU 14-5 (12-2 Big South), CSU 6-12 (4-10 Big South)
Next HPU Event: Friday, February 12, 2021 — at Radford (Radford, Va.) 2 p.m.
CHARLESTON, S.C. – For the fifth time this season the High Point University women’s basketball team notched a Big South Conference sweep with a 71-54 victory over Charleston Southern University at the Buccaneer Fieldhouse Saturday evening (Feb. 6).
Redshirt sophomore Jenson Edwards led the Panthers in scoring with 17 points while junior Skyler Curran was right behind her with 16, with each player hitting six shots from the floor. One day after leading the team with a career-high 18 points on her birthday, freshman Claire Wyatt matched her career-best with eight rebounds to lead the team.
“We’re happy to get a win on the road, those are never easy,” head coach Chelsea Banbury said after the game. “I talked with the team about appreciating every win and not taking anything for granted. We played hard and I’m happy with how we came in. We had a big first half and were able to hold onto it in the second half. We shot well again and it was nice to see contributions from multiple players and I’m happy with how we played today.”
High Point scored eight points early thanks to a pair of threes for the second night in a row but didn’t have as sustained of an explosive start as last night. The Panthers went scoreless for almost four minutes after the 8-2 lead, allowing Charleston Southern to come within two, 8-6, midway through the quarter. HPU had a strong end to the quarter, outscoring the Buccaneers 12-6 in the final five minutes to head to the second up 20-12.
Cydney Johnson dropped in a three just after the media timeout and jumpers from Jenson Edwards and LaImani Simmons made it a three-possession game. Jordan Edwards added a runner in the paint with just over two minutes left and Curran connected for her second three of the game with 1:26 left in the first for the final points of the quarter.
The Bucs scored the first two buckets of the second to make it a four-point game but the Purple and White responded with an 8-0 run to take a double-digit lead at 28-16. CSU hit a jumper to stop the run but didn’t completely stop it as Jenson Edwards and Curran hit back-to-back three-pointers and then Jenson found Curran cutting to the basket for the easy bucket to make it 36-18. The Buccaneers connected on a pair of free throws with under a minute left but a jumper from Jenson Edwards to get her in double digits at the half canceled them out to give HPU an 18-point, 38-20, lead at the break.
High Point didn’t hit from the floor in the second half until Johnson dropped in a layup two minutes in. After four consecutive free throws from the hosts following the layup, HPU went on an 11-1 run to take its largest lead of the day at 26, 53-27. The Panthers only mustered one more shot from the floor in the final four minutes of the third and CSU hit two in that time with a trio of free throws to give High Point a 56-34 lead heading into the fourth.
Simmons scored the first four points of the fourth quarter in the opening minute but the Purple and White’s offense clammed up after that, going scoreless for a stretch of more than three minutes. Charleston Southern took advantage of High Point’s struggle from the floor and went on a 12-0 run to make it 60-46. Claire Wyatt stopped the run with a layup, followed by a trey from Curran and a backdoor cut from Jenson Edwards. Simmons scored three more thanks to a layup and a free throw late in the game as the Panthers cruised to the 71-54 victory.
High Point’s next scheduled opponent is Radford, with the two-game road series slated for next Friday (Feb. 12) and Saturday (Feb. 13). Both games are scheduled to tip at 2 p.m.