CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 2 High Point University women's basketball team edged No. 7 USC Upstate in its first action at the 2023 Hercules Tires Big South Championships.
Skyler Curran led all scorers with 16 points, including her 300
th career three-pointer, while
Jenson Edwards added 10 points, going 5-for-5 at the free throw line.
Site: Bojangles Coliseum
Score: No. 2 High Point 50, No. 7 USC Upstate 43
Records: No. 2 High Point (16-13, 13-5), No. 7 USC Upstate (11-20, 7-11)
"I guess survive and advance," said head coach
Chelsea Banbury in her opening statement in Thursday's postgame press conference. "Fortunately, we were able to make enough plays to come out with the win tonight. In the first half, I thought we were very sloppy on the offensive end, we had too many unforced errors, turnovers, traveling calls, and things of that nature. I didn't think the second half was much better from that stance, but I think we did a good job of team defense overall. We were willing to help each other and make it difficult for them. I do give Upstate a lot of credit, they just played yesterday, but they were playing hard, and they played with us for forty minutes. They were running the floor, and their pace didn't change. I thought they played very well, but fortunately we were able to come out on top."
The Spartans opened by scoring five of the game's first seven points, but HPU closed the quarter on a 7-0 run to hold the 9-5 lead at the end of the first period.
Jordan Edwards got HPU on the board with a drive to the rim before
Skyler Curran hit a floater in the lane.
Nakyah Terrell hit High Point's first triple while
Anna Häger took the ball to the hoop for two more points.
Both teams traded free throws to start the second quarter as
Jenson Edwards sank two before the Spartans countered with two of their own and a jumper. A Curran layup gave High Point the 13-9 lead with 5:35 left in the half. Häger knocked down another Panther triple to push the lead to seven in the following minute of play.
Upstate closed the half scoring the next six points to keep within 16-15 at the break. Häger lead HPU with five points at halftime while Curran chipped in four points.
The Spartans opened the second half with a 7-3 run to hold a 22-19 lead two minutes into the half, but
Jenson Edwards hit a triple during the run. Curran ended the Upstate run with a triple of her own while
Jenson Edwards drove to the basket and made the bucket through contact for a three-point play, taking back a 25-24 edge.
Häger took the ball to the basket for two more points before
Jenson Edwards and Terrell hit three-pointers on back-to-back plays. Curran closed out the period with a pullup jumper to give HPU the 35-28 lead with 10 minutes to play.
HPU picked up where it left off in the third quarter to open the fourth, as Terrell knocked down another triple while Curran made a free throw and a layup of back-to-back possessions. Upstate score the next four to cut the Panther lead back down to four, but Curran hit from deep, her 300
th career make from range, to keep HPU ahead by double digits.
Upstate would cut the lead back down to five with 1:13 remaining by means of six made free throws, but
Jordan Edwards added three makes of her own from the charity stripe and
Jenson Edwards chipped in two down the stretch to keep HPU safely ahead.
Up Next: HPU will face the winner of No. 3 Campbell and No. 6 Longwood in the Big South semifinal round. Tip-off on Saturday is set for 8:00 p.m. in Bojangles Coliseum.
#H3U x #GoHPU
