HIGH POINT – Three Panthers finished in double figures and
Claire Wyatt continued her hot shooting streak as High Point defeated Longwood, 79-50, to open Big South play.
Callie Scheier chipped in 10 points to go along with team highs in assists (8) and steals (6).
Site: Qubein Arena
Score: High Point 79, Longwood 50
Records: High Point (3-8, 1-0), Longwood (1-11, 0-1)
Head coach
Chelsea Banbury: "I'm proud of our girls. First, we said going into today that it was going to be a statement game, and we're going to make that statement with defense. And I think holding them to 50 points, we did that. We definitely needed this win, and I think we have a good team, and we're starting to come together. I think today was a good step in the right direction. Obviously (Wyatt and Scheier) were excellent for us tonight, Claire has really come around the last two games and been very efficient with her minutes. And Callie was all over the place on defense, so that was nice to see. We're going to continue to need that, especially going into the Saturday. I'm happy with what we did tonight, and we have more work to take care of."
After a slow start in the first quarter, HPU retook the lead at 11-10 with 1:25 remaining in the period following three-pointers from
Anna Häger and
Skyler Curran. Another floater from Curran on the next possession helped the Panthers hold the slight edge at the quarter break, 13-12.
Following a
Jenson Edwards layup, Wyatt posted six-straight points and Scheier added a pull up jumper to the HPU cause to take the 24-16 lead with 5:56 remaining in the half.
Nakyah Terrell's layup and a Wyatt triple continued the 15-0 Panther run.
The Panther defense limited the Lancers to just seven made field goals at the halftime break while HPU held the comfortable 38-21 lead.
Curran and Wyatt had the hot hands coming out of halftime and leading High Point on a 13-4 run to open the third quarter. Curran hit two triples and Wyatt added her second of the night to take a commanding 51-25 lead with 4:46 remaining in the period.
High Point continued its offensive assault with another Häger three-pointer and a layup from
Jenson Edwards to hold the 26-point lead with two minutes in the quarter.
Lalmani Simmons and Scheier added layups in the last minute of the period keep HPU up 60-33, its largest lead at the time. The Panthers shot 50 percent (9-of-18) from the floor and 44 percent (4-of-9) from beyond the arc in the quarter.
With a comfortable lead, High Point rotated players in throughout the fourth quarter.
Shakira Baskerville picked up four points under the basket and pulled down an offensive board in a one-minute span while Scheier tallied four of her eight assists in the period.
Up Next: High Point travels to Gardner-Webb on Saturday, December 31
st. The Runnin' Bulldogs were picked in a tie with High Point to win the conference in the preseason coaches' poll. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. on New Year's Eve.
#H3U x #GoHPU
