The High Point University women's basketball team looks to bounce back at UNC Asheville after opening conference play with a win over Longwood before falling to Gardner-Webb on Saturday afternoon.
 

1-0 in conference ?? on to the next ??#H3U x #GoHPU pic.twitter.com/ADfJnpTpwX

— HPU Women's Basketball (@HPUWBB) December 30, 2022

 
GAME INFORMATION
High Point at UNC Asheville | Wednesday, January 4^th | 6:30 PM
Kimmel Arena | Asheville, N.C.
Watch | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
Last Time Out
Three Panthers finished in double figures led by Skyler Curran's 16 points in a tight 67-61 loss to Gardner-Webb. The Panthers and Runnin' Bulldogs were voted co-favorites in the Big South Preseason Coaches' Poll, and Saturday afternoon showed why. While HPU led throughout the first half, holding a 29-25 lead at halftime, Gardner-Webb's offense retaliated in the second half, scoring 42 points, and holding High Point to just 32 points. Callie Scheier finished the day with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from deep while Nakyah Terrell added 11 points and a team-high six rebounds.
 

All. The. Way. @Nakyah_T with five points on back-to-back possessions ??#H3U x #GoHPU pic.twitter.com/prMrGpKrME

— HPU Women's Basketball (@HPUWBB) December 31, 2022

 
ACROSS THE BENCH
High Point vs. UNC Asheville
The Panthers are 40-14 all-time against the Bulldogs, having won the last three matchups and four of the last five. Last season, High Point claimed victory in both games against Asheville, including a 61-57 overtime win on the road in the first meeting a season ago. In their second matchup, HPU picked up a 74-62 win in the Qubein Center. Jordan Edwards posted 19 points and five assists in the win, shooting 5-for-8 from the floor.
 
About the Bulldogs
Asheville is out to a 5-8 start to the season and 1-1 in Big South play after picking up a win over Winthrop on Monday. Prior to the win, the Bulldogs were on a six-game losing streak. Asheville is led by McKinley Brooks-Sumpter's 11.2 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game. Jordaynia Ivie has passed out 32 assists to go along with 22 steals and is second on the team with 9.9 points per game. Head coach Honey Brown is in her third season at the helm for the Bulldogs.
 

AND-1!!!!@jenson_edwards x #GoHPU pic.twitter.com/xt2EZSOfKD

— HPU Women's Basketball (@HPUWBB) December 31, 2022

 
Curran Cracks Top-100 in Active Career Leaders
Grad senior Skyler Curran has totaled 1,435 career points and 191 points this season (15.9 ppg). She is up to no. 4 on HPU's all-time scoring list, trailing Kaylah Keys (1,869), Emma Bockrath (1,616), and Shamia Brown (1,590). Curran is also climbing the ladder on the NCAA Division I active career leaders list in points. She currently sits at No. 74 in 102 career games played, tied for the 16^th-fewest games played among those in the top-75. Due to an injury last season, Curran missed all but one game on the 2021-22 schedule. In 2020-21, she averaged 17.2 points per game against Big South opponents and 17.7 points per game overall, finishing the season with 514 total points. This season, Curran is second in the Big South for scoring with 15.9 points per game and 191 total points.

Curran is also 15th among active career leaders for three-pointers made across all NCAA Divisions. Curran's 267 made triples through 102 games are the second-fewest games played among those in the top-15. 
 

KNOCK DOWN @SkylerCurran_21 pic.twitter.com/ZIp8cLdI0E

— HPU Women's Basketball (@HPUWBB) December 31, 2022

 
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.
 
Wyatt Finding Rhythm Entering New Year
Rounding out the 2022 portion of the schedule, Claire Wyatt averaged 15.0 points per game over three games for HPU, leading the Panthers in scoring in each of the contests. In the December 29^th win over Longwood, she also added a team-high two blocks to go along with four rebounds and two assists. In those three games, she shot 62 percent (18-of-29) from the floor, 50 percent (7-of-14) from three-point range and tallied six of her eight total blocks on the year.
 
Scheier Leads Defensive Effort
Junior Callie Scheier has recorded a team-high 32 steals through 12 games so far this season, good for second in the Big South. 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.
 

Good defense leads to another @CallieScheier ??!!!#H3U x #GoHPU pic.twitter.com/EKBd0ds9f4

— HPU Women's Basketball (@HPUWBB) December 31, 2022

 
Edwards Among Big South Leaders in Distributing
Senior Jenson Edwards ranks third in the conference in assists per game (3.9) and second for assist/turnover ratio (1.4). Her team-high 47 assists tie the third-best mark in the league as well. She has posted three or more assists in eight contests this season, including a career-tying-high nine against Stony Brook in Puerto Rico.
 
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.
 
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.) - 1,081 points, 552 rebounds
Skyler Curran (2018-pres.) - 1,435 points, 531 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 267-of-745 from beyond the arc, a career .358 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.