CHARLOTTE, N.C. – High Point University women's basketball's chase for a Big South Championship fell just short on Sunday night (March 5
th) as the No. 2 seed Panthers fell to No. 1 Gardner-Webb.
Jenson Edwards and
Skyler Curran were named to the All-Tournament team, each for the second time in their careers.
Site: Bojangles Coliseum
Score: No. 2 High Point 61, No. 1 Gardner-Webb 74
Records: No. 2 High Point (17-14, 13-5), No. 1 Gardner-Webb (29-4, 18-0)
Head coach
Chelsea Banbury: "Obviously we're not happy with how that one ended up, but I am proud of our girls. I thought we fought for 40 minutes, and they played hard. Gardner-Webb is a good team, I think they've proved that all year. They just made a few more plays than we did and came out on top."
It was the High Point underclassmen who were hot from the opening tip as
Nakyah Terrell hit a turnaround jumper to put the Panthers on the board in their first possession.
Anna Häger knocked down a three-pointer before Terrell made another layup from a GWU turnover to give HPU the 7-1 lead less than 90 seconds in.
The Runnin' Bulldogs' Jhessyka Williams, who finished with a game-high 33 points and was named the tournament MVP, score the next five points for GWU, bringing the top-seed back within 7-6 with 7:02 remaining in the opening period. Häger hit two jumpers on consecutive Panther possessions before
Jordan Edwards made a three-pointer and
Jenson Edwards scored on her first pullup jumper of the night. Another two points from
Jenson Edwards inside the two-minute mark gave HPU the 18-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Gardner-Webb opened the second period with a 9-0 run before HPU responded with a 6-0 run of its own.
Amaria McNear made two free throws before
Jenson Edwards drove to the hoop on back-to-back possessions to keep the 24-19 lead for High Point with 5:48 left in the half.
GWU took back the one point lead with six-straight points before two Curran free throws brought the advantage back to the Panthers. Gardner-Webb led by as many as six points with two minutes remaining in the half, but HPU cut it back to two with a Curran triple and a Terrell made free throw. The Panthers got back within one point after another
Jenson Edwards layup, but Williams made a layup with two seconds on the clock to give the Runnin' Bulldogs a slight halftime lead, 35-32.
Back-and-forth play continued to start the second half as Curran made two layups while Terrell added one of her own.
Jenson Edwards stayed hot, knocking down another jumper midway through the third to keep HPU within 44-40.
The Panthers closed the quarter scoring nine of the next 11 points as Terrell hit from beyond the arc and posted a layup while
Jenson Edwards scored four points with two jumpers, including the step back at the buzzer that gave HPU the 49-48 lead with 10 minutes to play.
HPU was unable to carry that momentum into the fourth quarter as the offense was held scoreless through the first six minutes, allowing GWU to score 14-straight points to hold a 62-49 lead with four minutes to play. Curran ended the run with two free throws and
Jenson Edwards knocked down a jumper within the next minute to get back within nine points with 2:59 to play.
As High Point was forced to start fouling shortly after, and Gardner-Webb answered by making 16-of-20 free throws in the quarter to secure the victory.
Jenson Edwards led HPU with 18 points and six rebounds on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor while Terrell chipped in 14 points and five rebounds. Curran also finished in double figures with 11 points while
Jordan Edwards added nine points and four assists.
Up Next: Finishing the regular season and the conference tournament as the runner-up in the Big South, the HPU women will earn an automatic selection into the WNIT. The 64-team field will be announced late Sunday evening, March 12
th, after the NCAA Tournament is released. The full bracket will be announced on Monday, March 13
th. The first round of the WNIT will tip off Wednesday, March 15
th.
#H3U x #GoHPU
