WBB Recap: Can I Have Your Attention, Please?

“Great job. Great job.”

Those were the only words a gracious NC State head coach Wes Moore had for Chelsea Banbury and her High Point squad as the teams shook hands following a 77–69 Panther loss to #9 NC State on Saturday night in Reynolds Coliseum.

The four-time ACC Coach of the Year, normally expressive and jocular, instead leaned into his humble side as the post-game pleasantries commenced. If you looked closely, you might have even caught a sigh of relief.

That’s because for 40 minutes of exhibition basketball on Saturday night, High Point gave the nationally ranked Pack—picked to finish second in the ACC—all they could handle and more.

The Panthers, who took the court in their alternate black uniforms, came out with a strong team defensive effort reminiscent of last season’s Big South Championship win against Longwood or last fall’s win over perennial A10 favorite Davidson.

At the guard position, Aaliyah Collins led a strong effort by the entire HPU backcourt to neutralize NC State’s preseason All-ACC star Zoe Brooks, who ended the night just 1-for-9 from the floor with 5 points.

In the frontcourt, Navaeh Zavala—with help from Anna Hager and Brecken Snotherly—battled through NC State’s six-inch-plus height advantage for key positioning and rebounds, helping to contain the Pack’s largest competitive edge. Many of those key box-outs opened lanes for guards Lexi Fleming and Chana Paxixe, whose strong rebounding efforts landed them 6 and 4 rebounds, respectively.

Despite the 47–30 rebounding margin and 34–24 points-in-the-paint margin in the box score for the Wolfpack, it never really felt like NC State capitalized on their biggest on-paper advantage: size.

Wes Moore even noted as much in his post-game comments, as reported by Pack Pride:

“Let’s face it, they were undersized, so we should’ve gotten the ball inside more than we did… You’ve got to recognize that we had an advantage inside and we needed to exploit it a little more than we did.”

You have to give Banbury’s game plan—and her team’s execution—a lot of credit for that.

But for all the defensive effort that kept the Panthers in the game, it was their offense that had the thousands of NC State faithful squirming in their seats.

Macy Spencer, the UNLV transfer guard from Katy, Texas, scored the first 8 points of the game for High Point and made 7 of her first 9 shot attempts, including three triples, to pull the Panthers into an early 25–24 lead over the Pack. She ended the game with 23 points—the game’s leading scorer.

Aaliyah Collins picked up right where she left off last season, attacking the rim with control and precision en route to a 5-of-8 night for 11 points. Anna Hager, another starter, chipped in 7 points of her own, including a couple of key early baskets.

Impressively, High Point displayed an offensive depth we haven’t seen before. Dom Nesland came off the bench and played a solid 23 minutes, going 2-for-4 from the floor with zero turnovers, and splashed in an absolutely awesome 3-point shot at the end of the first half that gave HPU a 41–38 lead at the break.

Brecken Snotherly came off the bench and hit a big 3-point shot while giving the team a shot of energy and toughness in the paint. Chana Paxixe added a solid four points and drew one of her patented charges in the second half—even if they got the call wrong and called a block instead.

Finally, graduate guard Lexi Fleming—who for most of the game quietly stuffed the stat sheet with assists and rebounds—showed up big when her team needed her most. As NC State attempted to pull away in the fourth quarter, she caught fire, scoring all eleven of her points in the final period, giving NC State one last bout of heartburn and the High Point faithful ten more minutes of hope.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of High Point’s performance was the focus and poise the team displayed in a tough and electric environment.

There were no moral victories out there.

When the team left the court with a 41–38 halftime lead, it was all focus. When some officiating whistles didn’t go HPU’s way in the second half, or when NC State had a few runs to try to pull away, the Panthers stayed locked in on the next play. Taking the advice of the man the court is named after—Jim Valvano—the Panthers never gave up.

All that being said, make no mistake about it: NC State did not play a particularly poor or sloppy game that inadvertently kept High Point in it. The Panthers had 14 turnovers to NC State’s 13. State had fewer fouls (12 to 19), more rebounds (+17), and 10 more free throw attempts than the Panthers. The result was a game that had the feeling and entertainment value of a midseason ACC bout.

High Point not only made a game of it, but showed that they belonged on the same court as the #9 team in the country. For two hours on a Saturday night in Raleigh, the Lady Panthers had the full, albeit uneasy, attention of one of the best women’s college basketball programs in the country. Now, Panther Nation—do they have yours?

The Panthers open the season on November 3 against Johnson C. Smith. If you do not have season tickets or plans to watch the women’s Panthers play, please consider doing so. You will not regret it.