GAME INFO

Wednesday, December 16 -- vs. Liberty (Millis Center, High Point, N.C.), 6 p.m.
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The High Point University women's basketball team's non-conference portion of its 2020-21 schedule concludes Wednesday evening (Dec. 16) at 6 p.m. with a matchup against former Big South foe Liberty University.
 

Matchup History

• This will be the 49th meeting between High Point and Liberty in HPU's Division I history, and the first since the Lady Flames eliminated the Panthers from the 2018 Big South Tournament.
• Liberty leads the series 37-11 and holds a 16-6 advantage in the Millis Center.
• With the last meeting between the two squads coming in the 2017-18 season, this will be the first time any current High Point player has played against the Lady Flames.

 

Across the Bench

• Liberty is 3-3 on the season and is 0-3 on the road, but enters Wednesday winners of its last two.
• The Lady Flames won 16 regular-season championships and 17 tournament titles in their 27 years in the Big South and are playing a former Big South opponent for the first time since leaving for the ASUN in 2018.
• Head coach Carey Green is in his 22nd year at the helm in Lynchburg and entered the season with the 23rd-best winning percentage among active Division I women's basketball head coaches with a .709 win rate.
• The Lady Flames have three players averaging double-digits in scoring, led by redshirt senior Emily Lytle's 15.7 points per game. Lytle is 15-15 on free throws and has made 27-straight dating back to last season.
• Bridgette Rettstatt and Ashtyn Baker are Liberty's other double-digit scorers, averaging 11.7 and 10.8 PPG Respectively.
• Mya Berkman is the leader on the glass for Liberty, grabbing an average of 6.8 rebounds per game while Kennedi Williams is the Lady Flames' lead ball distributor, dishing out a total of 23 assists for an average of 3.8 per game, despite coming off the bench in all six.

 

Panther Notes

 

Last Time Out

High Point continued its impressive week on Wednesday last week, defeating NC Wesleyan 108-71 for back-to-back victories. Junior Skyler Curran led the way with 31 points to match her career-high and hit nine shots from behind the arc, a career-best and one off the school and conference record. The 108 points are the third-most in program history and were just three shy of matching HPU's point total from the first time the schools met.
 

Nifty Newcomer

Freshman Claire Wyatt was named the Big South Freshman of the Week on Monday (Dec. 14), becoming the first Panther to win a weekly award from the conference this season. She scored 20 points across the two games, with a career-high 11 points against NC Central on Monday, and grabbed a career-best seven rebounds on Wednesday against Wesleyan. She also picked up a pair of steals in both games, making it three straight games the freshman has recorded multiple steals.
 

Rivalry Renewed

Wednesday is the first meeting between High Point and Liberty since the Lady Flames left the Big South for the ASUN in 2018 and will be the first game against any former Big South foe for Liberty in that period.
 

Scoring at Will

High Point's offense was on fire last week, with the offense scoring 195 over the two games, the most points scored in any two consecutive games in program history. HPU needs 65 points on Wednesday against Liberty to extend the streak to the most points in any three consecutive games. Last week's scoring outburst has moved the Panthers to the top of the Big South with an average offensive output of 78.8 points per game, putting them in the top-50 of the country as well. 
 

You Will Remember Wednesday for Centuries

Last Wednesday was the 10th time in HPU's Division I history the Panthers have scored 100 points or more and was the first of head coach Chelsea Banbury's career at the help of the Purple and White.
 

Extinguishing the Flame

Banbury was the associate head coach of FGCU in Liberty's first season in the ASUN and helped the Eagles take down the Lady Flames all three times the two teams played that year, including in the 2019 ASUN Championship game.
 

Foremost Facilitator

Junior Jordan Edwards leads the conference in assists per game, dishing out an average of 7.3 helpers each contest, putting her fifth in the country.
 

You Don't Make It, She Takes It

Curran leads the conference and is 11th in the country in defensive rebounds per game, snagging an average of 8.5 opponents misses off the glass per game.
 

The Panther Five

All five starters last Monday scored in double-digits - a feat HPU hadn't accomplished since Feb. 22, 2014, in an 82-75 victory over UNC Asheville. The Edwards' led the way with 23 for Jordan and 18 for Jenson, followed by Curran with 16, Wyatt with 11, and senior Chyna McMichel with 10.
 

Last Monday's Millis Milestone

The Panthers picked up their 200th Division I victory at the Millis Center last Monday after making the jump to D1 prior to the 1999-2000 season.
 

Up at the Top

Curran is tied for the lead in the conference in scoring and is 26th in the nation with an average of 22.0 points per game through the first four games of the season. Teammate Jenson Edwards is close behind her in fourth in the Big South with an average of 14.5 PPG.
 

A Better EDucation

Jenson and Jordan Edwards are both in the top-three in the Big South in three different assist categories. Jordan leads the Big South in assists per game with 7.3 while Jenson sits in third with an average of 4.2 APG. Jenson currently leads the conference in assist to turnover ratio with a 2.1 mark while Jordan is third with a ratio of 1.8. Jordan also leads the conference in total assists with 22 while Jenson's 17 are the second-most, making High Point the only team in the conference with two players in the top-five in assists.
 

Letting it Fly

After breaking the program record for three-pointers made in a single season last year, the Panthers continue to fire from deep, entering Wednesday in the top-30 in the country for three-pointers attempted, three-pointers made, and three-pointers per game. HPU makes an average of 10.5 long balls per game, good for 12th in the country, while the Purple and White's 42 total makes on 127 attempts rank 29th and 30th, respectively.
 
Three Point Club Make Total: 42
 
 

Getting Their Money's Worth

HPU took 40 free throws on Monday and converted on 30 of them. That's tied for the second-most attempts in school history and four shy of matching the record for makes. Nationally, the 30 makes are the sixth-most attempts in all of Division I. On the season, High Point shoots 78.9% from the stripe to lead the conference and sit 22nd in the country.
 

Climbing the Ranks

Curran entered the season with 137 career three-pointers made, good enough for eighth-most in the program's Division I history, and moved up to fourth place with 154 in her career after draining nine last Wednesday. Her 78 three-pointers made last season were the second-most in a single season for the Panthers, behind teammate Camryn Brown who made 83 three-pointers during last year's campaign. Curran is just 13 points away from entering the program's top-20 Division I scoring ranks and could easily move into the top-15 this season.
 

Home Sweet Home

The Panthers are in the midst of a six-game homestand, with Wednesday's game being number four of the series. The stretch will last almost through the rest of the calendar year, including the first weekend of conference play against UNC Asheville on Dec. 19 and 20.
 

Double-Double Trouble

Jenson Edwards picked up her first double-double of the season last Monday (18 pts, 10 reb.) to join Curran as the only Panthers with double-doubles this season and bringing their career totals up to three and six, respectively.
 

Return to the MACC

High Point women's basketball returns to the Millis Athletic and Convocation Center for a 29th and final season in 2020-21. The Millis Center was built on the old foundation of Alumni Hall in 1992 and has served as the home of the Panthers since. HPU has experienced 24 winning seasons at Millis and the Purple and White have racked up a total of 271 wins in the building.
 

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 Wednesday with 801 in her career.
 
 
Up Next: High Point begins its Big South schedule this weekend with a pair of games against UNC Asheville on Saturday and Sunday (Dec. 19-20). Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. both days and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
This women's basketball preview is presented by Beamer Tire and Auto.