WHEN: Sunday, Nov. 12 | 2:00 p.m.
WHERE: Convocation Center | Athens, Ohio
RECORDS: High Point (1-0), Ohio (0-0)
SERIES RECORD: Third meeting, Ohio leads 2-0
LAST MEETING: Ohio won 76-48 in the Millis Center on Nov. 13, 2016
ESPN3: Link
Audio: High Point Panthers Radio Network
Live Stats: OhioBobcats.Com
Game Notes: HighPointPanthers.Com
 
HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women's basketball team kicks off its road slate at Ohio on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio.
 
The Panthers (1-0) opened the season with a 111-54 victory over N.C. Wesleyan on Friday. The 111 points, 48 field goals and 23 steals were all the second most in a single game by High Point since the program moved to the Division I level. Meanwhile, Sunday's contest will be Ohio's first game of the season.
 
QUICK HITTERS:
• Emma Bockrath racked up the fifth double-double of her career with 11 points and 12 rebounds. That wasn't all for her though as the junior tallied five steals and five assists in just 22 minutes of action in the opener. Meanwhile, Kennedy Currie just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine boards.
 
• High Point assisted on 56.6 percent of its field goals last season, which was a six percent increase from 2014-15. With eight of the nine Panthers who dished out at least 10 helpers last year back, the squad posted 28 assists on Friday.
 
• Hendrix finally has a veteran roster to work with for the first time since 2014-15. HPU has had at least 70 percent of its roster comprised by underclassmen each of the last two years, but have nine upperclassmen this season.
 
• On Wednesday, the Panthers signed four student-athletes for the 2018 recruiting class. The quartet includes North Carolinians Jenson Edwards (Wilmington), Skyler Curran (Winston-Salem) and Makaela Johnson (Mount Airy) along with Mya Grimes from Trenton, N.J. Grimes and Johnson are forwards while Curran is a point guard and Edwards will play on the wing.
 
• HPU's current freshmen - both 2,000-point scorers in high school - combined for 31 points on 11-of-19 shooting in the team's opening game. The duo also added six assists while committing just one turnover in 32 combined minutes.
 
• HPU's depth was vital to last season's success as the team's reserves accounted for 34 percent of the scoring. The Panthers' bench outscored its opponent's reserves by an average five points per game last year. But in High Point's 15 wins, the reserves posted nearly 10 more points per outing than the opponent's bench. That continued to prove true on Friday as HPU earned a 52-19 edge in bench points.
 
• The contest on Sunday will serve as a semi-homecoming for five Panthers. Bockrath (Dayton), Shea Morgan (Kettering), Camryn Brown (Copley), Olivia VanSlooten (Toledo) and Thomas (Norwalk) all hail from the Buckeye State.
 
HPU's Record in Road Openers
• HPU is 3-15 in road openers since moving to the D-I ranks with several of those contests against Power-5 foes.
 
• Since DeUnna Hendrix took over the helm the Purple & White are 0-5 in their first road game of the season including last season's 73-62 setback at Ole Miss. However, three of those losses have come to Power-5s and the other two were by single digits.
 
Consecutive Starts Record
Bockrath has started 62 straight games through the last two-plus seasons leaving her 11 games short of HPU's D-I record.
 
All-Time Series with Ohio
The Bobcats have claimed both of the previous meetings between the two programs. OU won in the Millis Center to open the 2016-17 season and in the FAU Invitational in 2006-07.
 
Scouting the Bobcats
Ohio is coming off a 22-10 season, its third straight 20-win season. However, the team has to replace four starters and all of its top-three scorers. In an exhibition OU fell to Walsh, but the team's five freshmen accounted for all but 44 minutes of the contest.
 
The Matchup to Watch
Maturity could play a huge role as Taylor Agler's 31 career starts account for all of OU's starting experience. Meanwhile, HPU's roster combines for 224 career starts.
 
NEXT UP
The Ohio contests begins a tough two-game road trip as the Purple & White head to Duke on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. to play the Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
 
#GoHPU