High Point Falls to William & Mary in NCAA Tournament, 69-63
By High Point Athletics
AUSTIN, Texas – The High Point University women's basketball teams season concluded after falling to William & Mary, 69-63, in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night.
Head Coach Chelsea Banbury: "Hats off to William & Mary, they came out ready to play. They were ready to execute and have been playing some good basketball lately. They are tough to guard as they are shooting at a extremely high percentage. Bella is a great offensive player for them and caused a lot of problems for us. We made some runs ourselves but unfortunately, we didn't make enough plays down the stretch. But I am proud of our team. We hung in there in their runs, and we didn't fold. We came back and took the lead, so they had a lot of fight in them. And unfortunately, we just didn't make enough plays down the stretch to come away with the win."
Three Panthers led in scoring figures as Lauren Scott led the team with 19 points, and six rebounds, as Aaliyah Collins tallied 18 points, and six assists. Jaleesa Lawrence recorded 15 points, and seven rebounds.
Collins was a big scorer in the first quarter for HPU as she led with 10 points helping the Panthers stay close with the Tribe. William & Mary went on a 5-0 run to end the first quarter with a 17-15 lead over HPU.
High Point was playing from behind for the majority of the second quarter as they were able to cut the lead down to two, two separate times. About halfway through, Lawrence connected on a layup to cut the Tribe's deficit to two points, before they took their biggest lead of the quarter, 32-23, after a three pointer from Monet Dance. High Point went to the break down six, 34-28.
A 7-0 run in the third quarter allowed HPU to tie the game at 42. Scott was a big factor as she recorded seven points not even five minutes into the quarter as she connected on a few three pointers. Collins drew an on the go and-one to tie the game at 42 and then took their first lead of the night after she made her one foul shot. The Tribe connected on a long-range jumper for three to take the lead right back. Scott answered right away and hit one of her own to take the lead back, 46-45. HPU went into the fourth quarter down one, 47-46.
High Point and the Tribe were battling back and forth for the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter as there were four different lead changes. Lawrence tied the game on two occasions as she hit a layup to tie the game at 51 and then nailed a three pointer about two minutes later to tie the game at 57. An 8-1 run from the Tribe broke things open in the final minutes before the Panthers started to foul and ultimately was unable to make their way back before the final buzzer.
This concluded the 2024-25 season for the High Point Panthers as they finished the year Big South Champions, Regular Season Champions, and making its second NCAA Tournament in program history. Banbury led her squad to a 21-12 overall record and a 13-3 record in the Big South.