HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women’s basketball team will wrap up the regular season as it hosts Radford on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Millis Center.
The Panthers (17-11, 13-6) are winners of their last two and will look to pull into a tie with Radford (17-11, 14-5) for second in the Big South standings. The Highlanders are looking to lock themselves in as the No. 2 seed with a win or a Campbell loss, while HPU will need a win and a Campbell loss to secure its spot as the No. 3 seed in next week’s Big South Tournament.
Last Time Out:
The Purple & White got a basket from redshirt-senior Stacia Robertson seconds into the game at Gardner-Webb and never looked back en route to a 74-58 triumph. Robertson starred in the contest posting 23 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, three blocks and three assists.
The Panthers built a six-point halftime lead and raced away for the 16-point victory. The defense held the Runnin’ Bulldogs to eight made field goals in the second frame. In a game that featured 67 free throws, HPU outshot GWU 82 percent (23-of-28) to 62 percent (24-of-39) at the line to help earn the win.
Sophomore DeAnneisha Jackson came off the bench and scored 14 points and nearly earned a double-double with nine rebounds. Senior Ashante Richard played one of her best games of the season posting 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Neither team shot particularly well on the night. HPU hit 25-of-62 (40 percent) overall and 1-of-15 (6.5 percent) from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Runnin’ Bulldogs were held to 25 percent shooting (16-of-64) and 13 percent (2-of-15) on 3-point attempts.
The Panthers controlled the inside earning a +20 (40-20) advantage in points in the paint and a +1 (48-47) margin on the boards. The team also used 11 steals to lead to 21 points off turnovers.
The Opponent:
The Highlanders will come into Saturday’s showdown winners of five of their last six games after beating UNC Asheville 50-47 on Tuesday. Radford got nine second-half points from senior Ayana Avery to help erase a seven-point halftime deficit to eclipse the Bulldogs.
Avery is the team’s leading scorer (10.5 ppg) and the Big South’s top 3-point shooter (70 made 3’s). She is also the team’s go-to player down the stretch with a handful of game-winners to her name. HPU saw that up close in the teams’ first meeting at Radford on Jan. 24. In that contest, Avery hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining to give her squad a 61-58 win.
Junior Aisha Foy is Avery’s backcourt mate and is second on the team in scoring with 10.4 ppg. Foy is also adept behind the arc hitting 39 percent of her 3-point attempts. The duo of Foy and Avery have hit 111 of the team’s 139 3-pointers this season.
In the frontcourt, Radford relies on the trio of senior Jordynn Gaymon and freshmen Jayda Worthy and Janayla White. Worthy is the group’s leading scorer with 7.1 ppg while Gaymon and White both average 7.3 rebounds per game. All together the three posts tally 20.7 points and 20.6 rebounds per contest.
Radford can be careless with the ball as the team turns the ball over 18.5 times and is losing the turnover battle by a -4.5 margin per outing. The Highlanders have outrebounded their opponents by 2.6 boards per game, which can offset their turnovers.
Panther Notes:
• The Panthers have a 23-16 advantage in the all-time series with the Highlanders and are 3-2 under DeUnna Hendrix. Radford’s Ayana Avery hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds to give Radford a 61-58 victory on Jan. 24.
• The Purple & White will be honoring it five seniors before the game as Ashante Richard, Katie Vincent, Latrice Phelps, Lindsay Puckett and Stacia Robertson will suit up for their final time in the Millis Center.
• The quintet has combined to tally 2,879 points, 1,608 rebounds, 624 assists, 510 steals and 307 blocks. The class is the winningest group since the Panthers entered Div. I with 78 wins.
• Redshirt-senior Stacia Robertson is averaging 15.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.3 blocks, 2.4 steals and 2.7 assists per contest. The Grand Island, Neb. native has scored in double figures in 15 straight games and has eight of her 13 double-doubles in that span.
• Redshirt-senior Lindsay Puckett is also heating up with 11.4 points and 5.4 boards in the last seven games.
• Balance is key for HPU as the team is 16-3 when at least three players reach double figures in scoring. The first win over Gardner-Webb was the only time this season the team won with two-or-fewer players scoring 10-plus points.
• The Panthers are 12-1 at home this season, which is the second best home record in the Div. I era and 43-12 (.782) in the Millis Center since the 2015 senior class arrived.
• The offense is shooting at a record pace this year (41.6 percent). The Panthers lead the Big South and are on pace to best the program record of 41.3 set during the 2010-11 season. Radford is fourth in the league allowing opponents to shoot 37.1 percent overall.
Next Up:
The Panthers will head to the Big South Conference Tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Purple & White have secured a bye to the second round, but their seeding is dependent on Saturday’s outcomes.