High Point women beat Campbell 62-46 for 1st NCAA bid

HIGH POINT, N.C. (AP) — Jenson Edwards had 19 points, six rebounds and five assists and top-seeded High Point earned its first NCAA Tournament bid on Sunday with a 62-46 win over Campbell in the Big South Conference Tournament championship game.

Big South Player of the Year Skyler Curran added 14 points and seven rebounds and made four 3-pointers for the Panthers (22-6).

Coach Chelsea Banbury brought an outside shooting philosophy to High Point and it paid off in her second year with the program. High Point’s 10 3-pointers set a Big South championship game record and its 22nd win of the season matched a High Point record. The Panthers were third in the nation in 3-point attempts (917) and fifth in made 3s (305).

The Panthers made 8 of 15 from the arc in the first half and got the stops they needed to build the lead to 38-21 before going into halftime up by 15.

The No. 2 seed Fighting Camels (16-7), who went 0-for-3 from the arc in the first half, made three 3s during an 11-0 run that cut the deficit to 43-36 in the third quarter. Campbell closed the margin to five early in the fourth, but High Point pulled away with 11 straight points.

Lauren McNamara-Clement led the Camels with 12 points.

Taya Bolden, Shy Tuelle and Luana Serranho, Campbell’s top three scorers who average 33.9 points, were held to 12 points.

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