GAME INFO

Sunday, November 29 -- at North Carolina (Carmichael Arena), 1 p.m.
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The High Point University women's basketball team begins its 2020-21 season on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 29) when the Panthers travel to Carmichael Arena in Chapel Hill, N.C. to face the North Carolina Tar Heels (2-0).
 

Matchup History

• This is the second meeting between the two schools in High Point's Division I history, with the first meeting coming during the 2013-14 season.
• The Tar Heels won that matchup 103-71 and made it all the way to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament.

 

Across the Bench

• North Carolina is 2-0 on the young season, picking up wins over Radford (90-61) on Wednesday (Nov. 25) and UNCG (96-35) on Saturday (Nov. 28).
• UNC finished 16-14 last season in head coach Courtney Banghart's first year at the helm in Chapel Hill.
• Banghart spent 12 years at Princeton before coming to the Tar Heel State and was named the Naismith National Coach of the Year in 2015 after leading the Tigers to a 30-0 regular-season record during the 2014-15 campaign.
• Senior center Janelle Bailey was named to the Preseason All-ACC team this year and is once again on the Lisa Leslie Award watch list for the nation's top center after finishing in the top-10 each of the last two years. Bailey leads UNC in rebounding after two games with an average of 7.0 rebounds per game and is one of five Tar Heels averaging double-digit points, dropping in 20 over the opening week to average 10.0 points per game.
• Deja Kelly is a freshman out of San Antonio, Texas and was ranked as the 10th-best prospect for the class of 2020. The Gatorade Texas Girls Basketball Player of the Year led Duncanville High School to the Texas 6A State Title and currently leads UNC in scoring and assists, averaging 16.0 PPG and dishing out an average of 4.0 helpers each contest.

 

Panther Notes

Last Season
High Point's season came to an abrupt and unfortunate end as the COVID-19
Pandemic halted collegiate sports before HPU could participate in the Big South
Tournament. The Panthers were the hottest team in the Big South entering the postseason, winning their last five games. Graduate Camryn Brown set a Big South record for points in a single game with 44 against Winthrop on Feb. 1 as part of a Big South Player of the Year campaign, becoming the fourth member of the Purple and White to earn the award. She was also named the conference's Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming just the fifth player in Big South history to earn both awards in the same season.
 

I'm Honored

Junior Skyler Curran was High Point's second-leading scorer a year ago, and her success last season earned her the top spot on the Big South's preseason honor list, being named the conference's Preseason Player of the Year. Curran was second in Player of the Year voting last season and was on the First Team All-Big South – the team's only returning All-Big South player. Curran picked up four Big South Player of the Week nods a season ago, in addition to being named College Sports Madness' Player of the Week in the Big South four times as well.
 

And Now for Our Opening ACCt

After traveling to Duke for its first game a season ago, High Point will open its season on the road against an ACC opponent for the second-straight season and fourth time in its Division I history as they travel to Chapel Hill to play North Carolina. It will be the 24th time in the team's Division I history facing an ACC opponent and second time facing the Tar Heels, their first meeting taking place in 2013 when North Carolina was ranked No. 14 nationally.
 

Return to the MACC

High Point basketball returns to the Millis Athletic and Convocation Center for one final year in 2020-21. The Millis Center - which was originally Alumni Hall - was built in 1957 and has housed the Panthers since the program started 10 years later. High Point comes into 2020-21 with 199 Division I wins at Millis and will look to pick up its 200th early in the season.
 

First Year Successes

In her first year as the program's fifth Division I head coach, Chelsea Banbury had record-breaking success, finishing the season with a 16-13 mark, going 14-6 in conference play. Her 14 Big South wins were the most by a first-year head coach in HPU history. Redshirt sophomore Jenson Edwards also had a successful first year in 2019-20, being named to the Big South All-Freshman/Rookie Team and being honored twice as the Big South Freshman of the Week.
 

Home Sweet Home

This year's non-conference slate features four of the five contests being played at home in comparison to last year when just three of the nine Panther non-conference games took place in the Millis Center.
 

Climbing the Ranks

Curran enters the season with 137 career three-pointers made, good enough for eighth-most in the program's Division I history. She looks to continue moving up the list in 2020-21 and enters the season just ten triples away from the fourth spot. Her 78 three-pointers made last season were the second-most in a single season for the Panthers, behind teammate Cam Brown who made 83 three-pointers during last year's campaign. Curran is just 100 points away from entering the program's Top-20 Division I scoring rank and could easily move into the Top-15 this season.
 

The 1K Club

Last season, Brown was honored for becoming the 13th Panther in the Division I era of High Point women's basketball to score 1,000 points after hitting the milestone at UNC Asheville (Jan. 9) and finishing her career with 1,305 career points, the sixth-most in HPU's Division I history and 14th-most in program history all-time. After scoring 490 points last season, Curran will look to join Brown this season as the 14th Panther to score 1,000 career points, entering the year with 713 through her first two seasons.
 

Letting it Fly

HPU broke its single-season record for three-point attempts last season with 917 shots from behind the arc, good enough for third-most in the country. The Panthers also broke the record for three-point makes in a season with 305 (fifth-most in the nation), becoming the first team in program history to make 300 triples in a single season. Their 10.5 three-point field goals per game were also third-most in Division I last season.
 
 
Up Next: High Point returns home to finish out the non-conference schedule and start a six-game home streak on Wednesday (Dec. 2) when Wofford comes to the Millis Center for a 6 p.m. tip. The Panthers follow with non-conference games against North Carolina Central (Dec. 7), North Carolina Wesleyan (Dec. 9), and Liberty (Dec. 16) before the start of Big South play with a pair of games against UNC Asheville (Dec. 19-20).


This women's basketball preview is presented by Beamer Tire and Auto.