GAME INFO

Wednesday, December 30 -- at USC Upstate (Spartanburg, S.C.), 2 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch | Game Notes
 
Thursday, December 31 -- at USC Upstate (Spartanburg, S.C.), 2 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch | Game Notes
 
High Point University women's basketball (3-4, 1-1 Big South) heads back on the road for the first time since the season opener with a two-game trip at USC Upstate (3-4, 1-1 Big South) to close out the 2020 calendar year.
 

Matchup History

• High Point and USC Upstate have only met five times in HPU's Division I history, with the Panthers coming away victorious in all five.
• HPU has scored at least 75 points in all five meetings, including more than 80 in all three meetings since the Spartans have joined the Big South.
• Upstate has never scored more than 69 points on the Panthers and the Purple and White held the Spartans to just a combined 91 points in their two meetings a season ago.

 

Across the Bench

• USC Upstate has an identical record with High Point, entering the week 3-4 on the year, 1-1 in conference play, and 3-2 in its last five games.
• The Spartans opened the season with a pair of Power-5 matchups in Alabama, falling to Auburn to start the year and then losing at Alabama a week later.
• Upstate opened its Big South schedule up at Winthrop and split with the Eagles, with both games decided by seven points or less.
• Head coach Becky Burke is in her first year in Spartanburg, taking over for longtime head coach Tammy George.
• McKinley Brooks-Sumpter leads the Spartans in scoring and rebounding, scoring an average of 14.2 points per game and grabbing 7.4 rebounds per game, ranking eighth in the Big South in both categories.

 

Panther Notes

 

Last Time Out

High Point split its opening weekend of Big South action, dropping the first game to UNC Asheville before rebounding with a victory in the second game of the series. Four Panthers scored in double digits in the win, marking the third time that HPU has had four scorers in double digits - all three of which have been wins. Junior Jordan Edwards led the way with 19 points, followed by classmate Skyler Curran with 17, redshirt sophomore Jenson Edwards with 15, and freshman LaImani Simmons with 14.
 

Two-For-One

For the second straight season, Big South Conference play will see High Point play each team in a 20-game round-robin schedule. Differing from last year is the format, which will be back-to-back contests against the same opponent at the same location on consecutive days this year, as opposed to the traditional home-and-home format used last year. 
 

Doing the Splits

High Point and Asheville were one of three matchups of the opening slate of Big South games where each team won one game in the new back-to-back format. HPU only split two series a season ago, winning just one against UNC Asheville and Winthrop.
 

Double-Double Trouble

Curran notched her second double-double (11 pts., 13 reb.) of the season in the first game against UNC Asheville last Saturday, bringing her career total up to seven. Jenson Edwards is the only other Panther with a double-double so far this season, with her's against NC Central bringing her career total up to three.
 

Foremost Facilitator

Jordan Edwards leads the conference in assists per game, dishing out an average of 5.8 helpers each contest, putting her 16th in the country.
 

Two at the Top

Curran is third in the conference in scoring and is 69th in the nation with an average of 18.7 points per game this season. Teammate Jenson Edwards joins her in the top-five in the conference, sitting fifth with an average of 14.9 PPG.
 

Getting Their Money's Worth

HPU took 40 free throws against NC Central on Dec. 7 and converted on 30 of them, tied for the second-most attempts in school history and four shy of matching the record for makes. Nationally, the 30 makes are tied for the seventh-most in all of Division I this season. On the season, High Point shoots 81.6% from the stripe to lead the conference and sit seventh in the country.
 

You Don't Make It, She Takes It

Curran leads the conference in defensive rebounds per game, snagging an average of 7.9 opponent misses off the glass per game, good for 24th in the country in DRPG.
 

Ball Movement

The Panthers lead the Big South in assist to turnover ratio, dishing out an average of .86 assists to each turnover.
 

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 against NC Wesleyan on Dec. 9 and now has 159 in her career. With Curran's 28 points last weekend, she moved into 19th place on HPU's D1 scoring list with 844 career points, five away from taking over 18th and 156 shy of becoming the 14th Panther to score 1,000 points since High Point joined Division I.
 

A Better EDucation

Jordan and Jenson Edwards are both in the five in the Big South in three different assist categories. Jordan leads the Big South in total assists, assists per game, and assist to turnover ratio with 35 total assists for an average of 5.8 APG and an assist to turnover ratio of 1.94. Jenson is second in assist to turnover ratio with a mark of 1.50, third in total assists with 24, and fourth in assists per game with an average of 3.4 APG.
 

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-15 in the country for three-pointers attempted, three-pointers made, and three-pointers per game. HPU makes an average of 10.0 long balls per game, good for 13th in the country, while the Purple and White's 70 total makes on 223 attempts rank 10th and sixth, respectively.
 
Three-Point Club Make Total: 70
 

Up Next: High Point returns home to open 2021 with a pair of games against preseason Big South favorites Campbell next Monday and Tuesday (Jan. 4-5) at the Millis Center with both games starting at 6 p.m.
 
This women's basketball preview is presented by Beamer Tire and Auto.