High Point University

Women’s Basketball goes 3-1 on recent home stand

By Shawntay Henry

The High Point University women’s basketball team has jumped off to a good start with wins over Davidson, Longwood and Pittsburg during its four game home stand.

The only loss on the home stand came to Mercer, who was 0-5 before capturing a 75-67 win against the Panthers.

“Although it was a tough loss,” said senior captain Shamia Brown, “It brought us back where we need to be. It was a way to combat and come back with wins.”

“The Mercer loss was tough because as a team we were better than them. Offensively things didn’t work out, and at times we did get outplayed and outworked,” said Brown.

Also during the home stand, the Panthers took on Davidson College. Davidson was no match for the balanced scoring attack of three Panthers, Shamia Brown, Erin Reynolds, and Cheyenne Parker, all scoring 18 points.

To capture the win against Davidson College, first year head coach Jennifer Hoover said she had to refocus her team’s energy on the little things defensively and offensively.

“It was about being more efficient with what we already have. We worked a little bit more on how to attack a zone more efficiently,” said Hoover.

The aggressive defense of the Panthers forced 24 turnovers against Davidson, including 17 steals.

Due to a collective team effort and shared determination to prevent any extensions to their losing streak, the Panthers prevailed over the Wildcats with an 82 – 69 victory.

The Panthers carried over the momentum to a 73- 51 blow out win over the Longwood Lancers the following Sunday.

“We were surprised,” said Coach Hoover, “Longwood is more of a man-to-man team. We were expecting them to play man-to-man and they played zone.”

A shaky start by the Panthers allowed the Lancers to stay neck-and-neck during the first half of the game. By half time freshman guard Hallie Gunnoe, made a lay-up that put the Panthers up by one going into the break.

However, by the second half of the game, the double digit scorers Erin Reynolds, 19, Cheyenne Parker, 15, Shamia Brown 12, and Lauren Witt, 10, put the game out of reach for their opponents.

The Panther’s have a difficult schedule ahead of them after going 3-1 during this stretch.

The Panthers are putting in hard work on and off the court.

This week, the Panthers are working hard on the court. Coach Hoover said she is encouraging her team to play every possession like it is their last, pushing her team very hard in practice.

Off the court, Shamia Brown said the team is close and that a lot of their energy off the court is carried on the court. She hopes to continue her leadership by example.

Although she says she is not very vocal, Shamia tries to keep the team uplifted by talking through everything defensively and offensively.

The Panthers are scheduled to be in the Bahamas on December 19-20 to play Georgia State and Central Arkansas in the Bahamas Classic.