GAME INFO

Sunday, March 21 -- vs. UConn (San Antonio, Texas), 8 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN | Live Stats | Watch | Game Notes | NCAA Program
 
The High Point University women's basketball team (22-6, 17-3 Big South) makes its NCAA Tournament debut in primetime on Sunday night (March 21) on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET when the No. 16-seed Panthers take on No. 1-seed UConn (24-1, 18-0 Big East) in the Alamodome.
 

Matchup History

• High Point and UConn have never met before and Sunday will be just the fourth time HPU has played a member of the Big East Conference (among current 2020-21 members).
• UConn ended the season atop the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls, marking the 12th time the Panthers have played a ranked opponent and the first time playing the nation's top team.
• The Purple and White are 0-11 in their meetings with ranked opponents to this point, with the closest game being a 16-point loss to No. 25 Vanderbilt in 2011.

 

Across the Bench

• UConn won its 19th Big East Championship this season and enter the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed for the 22nd time.
• This is UConn's 32nd consecutive trip to the dance and the Huskies are looking for their 12 National Championship and to extend their streak to 13-straight Final Four appearances.
• UConn is highly ranked in nearly every statistical category the NCAA tracks, including ranking as the best team in the country in assists per game (21.0), scoring margin (+31.5), and winning percentage (.960).
• Four Huskies average double-digit points per game, led by Naismith Award finalist Paige Bueckers. The freshman averages 19.7 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game, and 6.1 assists per game.
• Not only is Bueckers up for the top award in women's basketball, she is also a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award, given annually to the nation's top point guard. She is an AP All-American and was named the Big East Player and Freshman of the Year.
• Second in scoring and joining Bueckers on the All-Big East First Team is Christyn Williams, averaging 15.8 PPG. Olivia Nelson-Ododa is third in scoring at 12.5 PPG and leads the team in rebounding with an average of 7.8 boards each contest.
• Nelson-Ododa was a Second Team All-Big East selection this season and was named the conference's Co-Defensive Player of the Year after averaging 1.8 blocks per game. She is also a finalist for this year's Lisa Leslie Award, given to the nation's top center.
• Aaliyah Edwards is the fourth and final Husky averaging double-digits, entering the NCAA Tournament with an average of 10.2 PPG and was named the Big East Sixth-Woman of the Year.

 

Panther Notes

Last Time Out

High Point won its first Big South Tournament Championship on Sunday with a 62-46 victory over Campbell University. The Panthers only trailed for the first minute and some change in the final game ever to be played at the Millis Center. Redshirt sophomore Jenson Edwards led the way for HPU, scoring 19 points and dishing out five assists in 38 minutes of action.
 

We Feel Like Dancing

After winning the Big South Tournament on Sunday, High Point punched its ticket to the Big Dance for the first time in school history. It's the fifth time HPU has made the postseason in its Division I history, with the other four being trips to the WNIT - all ending with first-round losses.
 

Setting Big South Records

The Panthers made 32 shots from behind the arc over the three games of the Big South Tournament, setting a conference record for most triples by a team in the tournament and becoming the first team to make double-digits three-pointers in every game of the event. HPU made a total of 10 in the championship game with eight coming in the first half - both Big South Championship records.
 

M-V-P! M-V-P!

Edwards was named the Big South Tournament MVP, the first tournament MVP in the Purple and White's history. She averaged 14.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.3 assists over the three games. Joining her on the All-Tournament Team from the Panthers was Skyler Curran after scoring 14 points in the championship game to be the only other HPU player in double digits.
 

An Elite Club

Curran scored her 500th point and grabbed her 200th rebound this season in the championship game, becoming just the fourth player in High Point's Division I history to score 500 points and grab 200 rebounds in the same season. She's just the sixth player to score 500 points in a season and the ninth different player to grab 200 rebounds in a year (15th different time it's happened).
 

Putting the Clamps On

The Panthers held Campbell to just 46 points to take home the title, the fourth time this season the Purple and White have held their opponent under 50 points - the most times HPU has held an opponent under 50 points since doing it five times in the 2017-18 season. The Panthers also held the Fighting Camels to shooting only 38.0%, the 21st time this season holding its opponent to shooting under 40% and 18th such victory this year. It marks the most times keeping an opponent under 40% since doing it 21 times during the 2008-09 season.
 

Never Faced a No. 1

UConn will be the first No. 1-ranked team High Point will have faced after the Huskies ended the regular season atop both the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls. The highest-ranked opponent HPU has faced was No. 6 on two different occasions, falling to Kentucky, 46-80, in 2012 and to Maryland, 50-105, in 2015. Altogether, High Point has played a ranked opponent 11 times since joining Division I, all 11 of which have been losses, with the closest game being a 16-point, 54-70 loss to No. 25 Vanderbilt in 2011.
 

First Time on the Network

Sunday's first-round game will be the first time ANY High Point University athletic event will be broadcast live on ESPN proper.
 

Go West, Young Panthers

The 2021 NCAA Tournament in San Antonio, Texas is the furthest west the Purple and White have played since participating in the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic in El Paso, Texas in 2010. Since then, HPU has played west of the Mississippi River once at Nebraska and has taken trips to the Bahamas (2011) and Cancun (2015).
 

Deep in the Heart of Texas

High Point has played six games in the Lone Star State entering the tournament, boasting a 2-4 record. It's been a while since the Panthers have won in Texas, with the two wins coming in the Southwest Texas Classic in San Marcos back in 2001. HPU has played in San Antonio twice before, losing to Prairie View A&M and UTSA in the Wells Fargo New Year's Classic in 2008
 

Cream of the Conference

On March 5, junior guard Skyler Curran was named the Big South Women's Basketball Player of the Year, the second year in a row that HPU has had the Player of the Year. Curran finished the regular season second in the conference in scoring average and leading the way in total points with 446, the 18th-most in the country.
 

Steph Curry or Skyler Curran?

Curran is in the top-five in the country for three-pointers made and attempted this season. She's thrown up 214 shots from behind the arc - the fourth-most in the country - and has connected on 91 of them, the second-most in Division I, most in the Big South, and the most in a single season in HPU history.
 

SHOOTER!

Curran is the best in the conference and 20th in the country in three-point percentage, making 42.5% of her shots from behind the arc.
 

DECAdent Dishes

Jordan Edwards had a career-high 10 assists earlier this season against Charleston Southern (Feb. 5), becoming the first player in the Big South to register double-digit assists in a single game this season, later matching it in the win over Longwood. Edwards became the first Panther to accomplish this feat since Camryn Brown dealt out 10 helpers against North Carolina Central last season and enters the Tournament in the top-10 in total assists in all of Division I with 136.
 

A Better EDucation 

Jordan and Jenson Edwards are both in the top-five in the Big South in three different assist categories. Jordan leads the conference in assist to turnover ratio (2.2) and total assists (136) and is second in assists per game (5.0). Jenson is third in the conference in total assists (114) and is fourth in assist to turnover ratio (2.0), and assists per game (4.1). Nationally, Jordan is 10th in total assists, 36th in assists per game, and 45th in assist to turnover ratio.
 

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 the Tournament second in the country for three-pointers attempted, three-pointers made, and in three-pointers per game. HPU has made a total of 294 long balls on the year in 796 attempts for an average of 10.5 per game. The Purple and White sit atop the conference and 16th in the country in three-point percentage, making 36.9% of their shots from behind the arc.
 

...In a No-Fly Zone

High Point is one of the best teams in the country in defending the three-pointer, entering the Tournament leading the conference and in 10th place in all of Division I by allowing just 25.5% of opponent three-pointers to fall.
 
Three-Point Club Make Total: 294
 

Ball Movement

The Panthers lead the Big South in assist to turnover ratio, dishing out an average of 1.05 assists to each turnover. High Point also leads the conference in total assists and assists per game with 408 total helpers for an average of 14.6 each game, 107 assists more than the next closest Big South school, Longwood. The 408 assists put the Purple and White 19th in the country for total assists and the 14.6 assists per game ranks as the third-best average HPU has had in a single season in its D1 history.
 

Elite Company

Last Monday was the 20th victory on the season for the Purple and White, the sixth time HPU has hit the 20-win mark in its Division I history and the 16th time overall since the program started in 1967. High Point became just the 18th team in all of Division I to win 20 games this season, and are one of just 14 teams in the country to have 22 wins entering the Tournament, joining the likes of women's basketball powerhouses Stanford, UConn, South Carolina, and Maryland, among others.
 

Playing to Completion

High Point was able to play the maximum of 25 games in the regular season, getting every scheduled game in throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic. Not every team was as lucky, as the Panthers are one of just four teams to have played at least 28 games in all of Division I this season heading into the Tournament.
 

They're Free for a Reason

HPU connects from the free-throw line at a great rate, hitting 75.7% of its free throws, second in the conference and 34th in the country. The Panthers have made a total of 367 shots from the line this season, the most in the Big South and 18th-most in the nation.
 

Ball Security

The Panthers' five turnovers against Radford (Feb. 12) were tied for the fewest in D1 program history and are the fewest committed against another Division I program in team history. High Point's 13.8 turnovers per game are the fewest in the Big South and 61st-fewest in the country.
 

Raining Buckets

High Point's 19 makes on 47 attempts from beyond the arc against Presbyterian (Jan. 22) were the most makes and attempts from three this season for the Panthers and were the second-most makes and most three-point attempts in HPU's Division I history. Nationally, the 19 makes are tied for the third-most in a single game across all of Division I this season while the 47 attempts are tied for the sixth-most.
 

Went Streaking

High Point made history on Jan. 22 by winning its 10th game in a row, the longest winning streak since the program made the jump to Division I in 1999. At the time of losing it the following day, the streak was tied for the 11th-longest active winning streak in all of Division I women's basketball. The win on the 22nd also marked the fifth consecutive win on the road and the eighth straight conference win away from home - both tying Division I program records.
 

Thanks for the Memories, Millis

Sunday was the final basketball game played at the historic Millis Center as HPU will move into the brand-new Qubein Arena beginning next season. High Point has enjoyed plenty of success in the Millis Center since it opened in 1992, racking up a total of 282 wins in 393 total games for a .716 winning percentage in the building. The Mills Center has seen 25 winning seasons at home out of a possible 29 and hosted its 17th Big South Tournament game involving High Point on Sunday.
 

It's Bo Time Y'all

This year marks the final year of the Hercules Tires Big South Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments being hosted on campus sites for the foreseeable future as the conference reached an agreement with Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte to host both tournaments there beginning next year.
 

Qubein Arena

Next season the Panthers will play their inaugural season in the Qubein Arena and Conference Center, which will feature a 4,200-seat sports arena, a plush conference center, meeting space for up to 2,500 people, and a luxury boutique hotel.
 
 
Up Next: The winner of Sunday's First Round game will play in the NCAA Tournament Second Round on Tuesday (March 22), with a time to be determined later.
 
This women's basketball preview is presented by Beamer Tire and Auto.