HIGH POINT, N.C – A hard fought battle with a familiar foe came down to the last second as the High Point University women's basketball team came out on top 48-47 over Campbell on Thursday night.
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 48, Campbell 47
Records: High Point (5-7), Campbell (7-4)
Head Coach Chelsea Banbury: "I am proud of how our team grinded this one out. Campbell is a good team; we knew it was going to be a dog fight till the end. They were going to defend and make you work for everything that you got. We had a lot of positive contributions off the bench. I am happy to be on this side of the close game tonight. I think you can make a lot of improvements and teams can do that quickly when you find ways to win. I'm excited for our girls, it was a team win and they can now enjoy their break."
Tonight's matchup was a close one throughout all 40 minutes. High Point started the scoring early as
Lauren Bevis was fouled and went to the line to shoot two.
Aaliyah Collins came out of the gates hot and fast, and she was a force on both ends of the court.
"It was nice to see Aaliyah get going," Banbury said. "I think she is getting more comfortable every time she is out there."
HPU had a four-point lead after the first quarter. The second quarter took a lot more effort to try and score the ball. Both teams struggled a little. Campbell was able to crawl their way back to within one point headed into the half.
The Camels went on a 7-0 run to start the third quarter as the Panthers continued to struggle to find the basket. It wasn't long until HPU found its groove again,
Callie Scheier drove to the basket and flipped it in to cut the lead to 30-28. A jumper by
Nevaeh Zavala late in the third quarter tied the game up at 32.
Early in the fourth quarter, Campbell started to jump away with the lead. But, their was Collins with a textbook play off the feed from
Amaria McNear to bank it in to bring it back to a four point game. High Point kept chipping away at their lead as the clock was winding down.
Bukky Akinsola drove the basket late in the fourth as she drained a layup, drawing the and one, bringing it to 38-40.
Collins made a layup in the paint to bring them within two. Campbell missed their shot and there was Collins to grab the defensive rebound as she took it down the court and completed the fast break layup to tie it up at 42.
With the Panthers down by one with seven seconds to go, McNear grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled as she was bringing the ball in. McNear was sent to the line to shoot two. She drained both, putting HPU up by one.
It came down to the final possession as Anna Hager was able to block the shooter as she attempted to hit the game winner in the paint. This secured the victory for High Point.
Up Next: High Point will get a few days off to enjoy the holiday and then are back at home on Dec. 30 at 4 p.m. to take on Elon.
#H3U x #GoHPU
