• All of HPU’s five Ohioans scored and combined for 46 of the team’s 61 points led by junior Emma Bockrath (17) and sophomore Camryn Brown (17).
• Junior Lindsey Edwards racked up 12 points to score in double figures in both of her career games against the Bobcats.
• Junior Shea Morgan paced the team with 14 rebounds and five assists on the afternoon.
ATHENS, Ohio – The High Point University women’s basketball team’s five Ohioans combined for 46 points as HPU’s comeback fell short in a 64-61 set to Ohio in Athens, Ohio on Sunday afternoon.
The Panthers (1-1) and Bobcats (1-0) went back and forth all afternoon before the home team built a 10-point lead with six minutes to play. However, key three-pointers from sophomore Camryn Brown and senior Kat Harris helped cut the lead to three, 64-61 with 30 seconds to play.
HPU, then, forced an Ohio turnover to get possession with 11 seconds left. Harris had a three-pointer blocked before junior Emma Bockrath’s last-second try rimmed off as the Bobcats closed out the 64-61 win.
“I hope this gives us some confidence because we played a very good Ohio team,” head coach DeUnna Hendrix said. “Going forward we will take it one day at a time, but we will go back to the film to see where we can execute better because we made far too many mistakes. We miscommunicated defensively and ran around offensively like we were one-on-one basketball players and we’re not. We need to play as a team. I appreciate our gutsy effort, but we need to play cleaner if we’re going to expect to win.”
Bockrath tallied her second double-double in two contests racking up 17 points and 11 rebounds hitting three of her six three-point attempts. Similarly, Brown fouled out after pouring in 17 points knocking down 4-of-6 from downtown.
Once again, junior Shea Morgan paced the team in assists with five while Brown added four helpers. In total the five Ohioans combined for 46 of HPU’s 61 points behind Bockrath, Brown, Morgan (seven), sophomore Olivia VanSlooten (four) and freshman Jiselle Thomas (one).
High Point outrebounded Ohio 49-36 with Morgan leading the way with a career-high 14. HPU also outshot the Bobcats 43.1 percent (25-58) to 35.3 percent (24-68) as junior Lindsey Edwards hit 6-of-14 to finish the afternoon with 12 points.
For the second straight game, HPU hit 8-of-16 from behind the arc while holding Ohio to just 7-of-34 shooting from beyond the arc. However, the Purple & White couldn’t overcome 30 turnovers and a 9-3 edge from the free throw line.
Bockrath came out hot hitting two early three-pointers as the Panthers built an 8-3 edge. However, the Bobcats responded with a 13-4 run to take a 16-12 edge with 8:52 left in the first half.
Bockrath, though, settled things down drilling her third trifecta of the half before Edwards added a driving layup to give High Point a 17-16 edge at the 6:39 mark. Less than three minutes later, Brown’s driving layup allowed HPU to regain a 21-20 lead with 3:57 remaining in the half.
But again, the Bobcats battled back finishing the half with an 8-3 spurt to enter halftime with a 28-24 advantage.
Out of the break, Brown drained two quick three-pointers to knot the score at 30-30 with 7:56 left in the third. Those three’s sparked a 14-2 run as Edwards added two buckets before VanSlooten’s basket gave HPU a 38-32 advantage with 5:42 remaining in the third period.
Over the next two minutes, Ohio cut the lead to one, 40-39, before Brown hit another from downtown to make it 43-39 with 3:44 on the clock. But the pendulum swung back in the Bobcats favor as the home team ran off eight straight points to take a four-point lead of their own, 47-43, before taking a 47-45 edge into the final frame.
At the start of the fourth, Ohio hit five of its first seven shots to build the game’s largest lead, 59-49, with 6:27 to play. High Point’s defense turned up the heat holding the Bobcats without a basket for nearly five minutes cutting the deficit to four, 59-55.
The teams traded three-pointers before Ohio extended its lead to six, 64-58, with a lay-in at the 30-second mark. However, Harris picked a great time for her first basket of the day drilling a three-pointer before Bockrath stole the ball to give HPU a possession with 11 second left down 64-61.
In the final possession, Harris’ three-pointer was blocked before Bockrath’s last-ditch effort just missed giving Ohio the win.
HPU stays on the road for its Thursday night contest at Duke tipping at 7:00 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium.