HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women's basketball team drops a close one with Elon 74-66 in the final non-conference game of the season.
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 66, Elon 74
Records: High Point (5-8), Elon (4-9)
Head Coach Chelsea Banbury: "I'm not really happy with the effort tonight. Especially to start the game, we had another slow start and dug ourselves a hole. Ultimately, we could not get out of it. We have to be better on the defense end, 44 points in the first half is way too many for a team like that. They shot way too high of a percentage and it was easy shots."
What seemed to be a slow start for the Panthers did not last the whole game, Elon took a strong lead to begin the first half. High Point kept chipping away as they were down eight the end the first quarter.
Aaliyah Collins started the scoring for HPU as
Lauren Bevis followed with a catch and shoot three from the corner.
Bukky Akinsola drained a wide open three from the left side to bring HPU back within two at 28-26 halfway through the second quarter.
Elon went on a bit of a run as they went into the locker room at half with a 44-28 lead.
The second half, the Panthers had to make a few runs to bring the game back to within reach.
High Point started to chip away as
Shakira Baskerville drained a three pointer to cut the Elon lead to eight.
Late in the fourth quarter, Collins fought for a loose ball, scooped it up and scored to bring the game to four with 29 seconds remaining.
Elon held on to the lead as HPU was trying to foul and climb their way back.
Collins finished with 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Baskerville tied her single game career high 15 points in tonight's matchup. She also had seven rebounds while going 4-4 from the line.
Up Next: High Point will begin Big South Conference play as they welcome Radford to the Qubein Center on Wednesday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m.
#H3U x #GoHPU
