The two top picks in the 2022-23 Big South Preseason Coaches' Poll are set for a showdown in Boiling Springs on Saturday night. High Point was picked in a tie for first place with Gardner-Webb in the poll but edged the Runnin' Bulldogs with five of nine first-place votes.  

Panthers cruise! ??

Claire Wyatt scores 16, Skyler Curran adds 15 and @HPUWBB flexes its muscles en route to a 79-50 win over the defending-champion Lancers!#BigSouthWBB?? x @HighPointSports pic.twitter.com/chZCHZp9Cr

— Big South Conference (@BigSouthSports) December 29, 2022

 
GAME INFORMATION
High Point at Gardner-Webb | Saturday, December 31^st | 2:00 PM
Porter Arena | Boiling Springs, N.C.
Watch | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
Last Time Out
Three Panthers finished in double figures and every Panther scored as High Point defeated Longwood, 79-50, to open Big South play. Claire Wyatt led all scorers with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor while Callie Scheier chipped in 10 points to go along with team highs in assists (8) and steals (6). HPU finished the night with 25 assists on 31 made baskets while shooting 50 percent from the floor and nearly 40 percent from beyond the arc.

FIRE ME UP @CallieScheier!!

Defense ?? offense ??#GoHPU pic.twitter.com/Wx1htlN5Lr

— HPU Women's Basketball (@HPUWBB) December 29, 2022

 
ACROSS THE BENCH
High Point vs. Gardner-Webb
HPU holds a slight edge over the Runnin' Bulldogs in its all-time history. The Panthers lead the series 22-17, but GWU claimed victories last season in each of the three games between the rivals, including a 55-53 nailbiter in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Big South Tournament. In the tournament game, Jenson Edwards led all scorers with 21 points while Nakyah Terrell added 19 to the Panther cause. HPU shot just 36 percent from the floor and 19 percent from three-point range in the game.
 
About the Runnin' Bulldogs
GWU is 9-4 on the season and 1-0 in Big South play after picking up an 86-65 win over Charleston Southern. The Runnin' Bulldogs' losses this season have been to Clemson (81-54), Alabama (89-60), SMU (84-71), and Appalachian State (87-81). GWU boasts four scorers averaging double figures, while Jhessyka Williams (18.5 ppg, 10.1 rpg) averages a double-double. Big South Preseason Player of the Year Alasia Smith averages 13.5 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game for Gardner-Webb as well. Head coach Alex Simmons is in her fifth season after leading GWU to a 16-15 record as season ago (13-5 BSC), finishing the season in the Big South Tournament Semifinals.
 
Ball Sharing, Defense Powers Panthers to Big South Opener Win
High Point opened the Big South schedule with a win against 2022 tournament champion Longwood on Thursday night in Qubein Arena. Three Panthers scored in double figures while HPU posted 25 assists on 31 made baskets. It is the most assists tallied in a single-game this season for High Point and ties the ninth-most assists recorded in a single-game in program history.

Here come your Panthers!! ??#GoHPU pic.twitter.com/TdjXuzRW5p

— HPU Women's Basketball (@HPUWBB) December 29, 2022

 
Wyatt Finding Rhythm Entering New Year
Rounding out the 2022 portion of the schedule, Claire Wyatt has averaged 15.0 points per game in the last three games for HPU, leading the Panthers in scoring in each of the contests. In Thursday's win over Longwood, she also added a team-high two blocks to go along with four rebounds and two assists. In the last three games, she is shooting 62 percent (18-of-29) from the floor, 50 percent (7-of-14) from three-point range, and has tallied six of her eight total blocks on the season.

YOU CAN'T STOP HER!!!@claire_wyatt10 5-for-6 from deep ????#H3U x #GoHPU pic.twitter.com/fbY8112njV

— HPU Women's Basketball (@HPUWBB) December 22, 2022

 
Scheier Leads Defensive Effort
Junior Callie Scheier has recorded a team-high 32 steals through 11 games so far this season, good for second in the Big South and tied for 37^th in NCAA Division I. She has recorded three or more steals in six games this season, including games against Davidson, Elon, Georgetown, and Wake Forest. The program record for steals in a season by an individual sits at 88, set by Emma Bockrath (2018-19), Narelle Henry (2002-03), and Erin Reynolds (2011-12). Lindsey Edwards was the most recent Panther to crack the program top-15 with 67 steals in the 2018-19 season.

Scheier with five quick points off the bench!!@CallieScheier x #GoHPU pic.twitter.com/iBkMUhQSJg

— HPU Women's Basketball (@HPUWBB) December 22, 2022

 
Edwards Among Big South Leaders in Distributing
Senior Jenson Edwards ranks second in the conference in assists per game (3.7) and assist/turnover ratio (1.3). Her team-high 41 assists tie the third-best mark in the league as well. She has posted three or more assists in seven contests this season, including a career-tying-high nine against Stony Brook.

Defense ?? Offense@jenson_edwards x #GoHPU pic.twitter.com/901nq9j8x0

— HPU Women's Basketball (@HPUWBB) December 8, 2022

 
Wyatt Posts Back-To-Back Game Highs
Junior guard Claire Wyatt posted back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts in HPU's win over North Carolina Wesleyan and the Panthers' 86-66 loss to No. 8 Virginia Tech. Wyatt led HPU with 12 points and four blocks against Wesleyan, going 5-of-10 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. Against Tech, Wyatt posted a season-high 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from deep in 25 minutes of action.
 
Curran Conjures First Double-Double
Graduate student Skyler Curran recorded the Panthers' first double-double of the season as she dropped team highs with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Curran leads HPU with 15.7 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game through the first three contests.

LET'S ROLL ??#GoHPU pic.twitter.com/iWUGhdlVvx

— HPU Women's Basketball (@HPUWBB) December 7, 2022

 
Dynamic Duo Climbing the Ladder
Jenson Edwards and Skyler Curran both joined the career 1,000 points & 500 rebounds club in HPU's contest against Wofford on November 19th. Edwards tallied 22 points with her first double-double of the season to eclipse 1,000 career points while Curran pulled down nine rebounds to reach 500 rebounds. Edwards notched the 500 rebounds milestone earlier in the season while Curran tallied her 1,000 career point in the 2020-21 season.
 
HPU Women's Basketball 1,000 Career Points & 500 Career Rebounds
Katie O'Dell (2002-06) – 1,307 points, 680 rebounds
Mackenzi Maier (2007-11) – 1,119 points, 595 rebounds
Shamia Brown (2008-12) – 1,590 points, 745 rebounds
Cheyenne Parker (2010-13) – 1,200 points, 1,039 rebounds
Stacia Robertson (2012-15) – 1,274 points, 801 rebounds
Emma Bockrath (2015-18) – 1,616 points, 747 rebounds
Jenson Edwards (2018-pres.) - 1,072 points, 547 rebounds
Skyler Curran (2018-pres.) - 1,419 points, 528 rebounds
 
Curran is also now in sole possession of the leader for three-pointers made in a career, passing Kalyah Keys' 255. She reached the now program-best 257 in 97 career games played. Curran is 263-of-732 from beyond the arc, a career .359 from deep.


Edwards and Curran become the seventh and eighth members of the Panthers' NCAA Division I-era 1,000 point and 500 rebound club and are two of just three active women's basketball players in the Big South who have reached both milestones.
 
Terrell Leads HPU in Exhibition Win
Sophomore guard Nakyah Terrell picked up right where she left off in 2021-22 as High Point posted a 64-35 win over UNC Pembroke last Tuesday night in Qubein Arena. Terrell led the Panthers with 15 points and seven rebounds while shooting 6-of-9 from the floor.
 
New Faces Make Presence Known
Two freshmen joined the HPU roster this season, guard Anna Häger and forward Nevaeh Zavala. Häger posted 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting with five rebounds while going 2-for-4 from beyond the arc. Zavala chipped in a three-pointer and two rebounds in 15 minutes played in her Purple and White debut.
 
Back For More
High Point returns four of its five leading scorers from a season ago in Jenson Edwards, Nakyah Terrell, Callie Scheier, and Cydney Johnson. 2021-22 Big South Preseason Player of the Year Skyler Curran also returns in 22-23 after a season-ending injury sidelined her in the first regular season game. Besides Terrell, each player was on the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament team and played significant minutes against UConn.
 
Preseason Panthers
Three HPU players earned Big South Preseason honors and High Point was picked to win the conference for the second year in a row in preseason polls. Skyler Curran and Jenson Edwards were named to the Preseason All-Big South First Team while Jordan Edwards earned Second Team Big South preseason honors.
 
Terrell Looks to Capitalized After Breakout Season
Sophomore Nakyah Terrell had a breakout freshman season in 2021-22, emerging as the third-leading scorer for the Panthers. Named the Big South Player of the Week three times and featured on the All-Freshman team a season ago, Terrell averaged 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game while passing out 54 assists and tallying 25 steals. She recorded 10 double-digit scoring games, one double-double (vs. Wake Forest, Nov. 24), and two 20-point scoring games.  
 
Year Two in the Qubein Center
After amassing a 9-5 record in its new home a season ago, HPU returns to the state-of-the-art Qubein Arena & Conference Center for its second season. In last season's exhibition contest against Mount Olive, the Panther women posted an 82-68 win in front of a crowd of 1,354 fans in Purple & White. Throughout 14 games in the regular season in the Qubein Center, HPU brought in over 11,600 spectators.