In the five seasons that Chelsea Banbury has been at the helm of the HPU women’s basketball program there has been no shortage of star power. Three of the last five Big South Players of the Year have come from the Panthers; Camryn Brown in 2020, Skylar Curran in 2021 and Lauren Bevis just last season.
But heading into the 2024-2025 season Banbury, herself a two-time Big South Coach of the Year, finds a roster looking a little more balanced and potentially under-the-radar than years past. I can’t help but ask myself, is that a good thing? Could this team be one of deepest and hungriest that Banbury has assembled during her time at HPU? I think so.
And the preseason voters tend to agree. Despite the Panthers losing last year’s POY and only landing one player on the Big South Preseason 1st Team All-Conference, they were still overwhelmingly picked to win the conference this coming season.
To do that they will need to rely on a larger cast, some veterans and some new to the program, and shore up some of the weaker areas of their game that have often been overcome with offensive fire power. But the good news is that, with returning production and a number of roster additions, overcoming the loss of another Big South POY and once again winning the Big South regular season looks like a very real possibility for the Panthers this season.
Roster
Let’s start with the returners.
Senior point guard Nakyah Terrell (5’6) returns after averaging 8.4 points and 3.4 assists last season and was the aforementioned sole selection to the Big South Preseason 1st team. Terrell has played in 93 games during her time at HPU, starting 71 of them. Over time she has increased her assist average from 1.7 per game as freshman to 3.4 last season. She’s an excellent ball handler and scorer on dribble penetration who’s also not afraid to keep the defense honest with a three-pointer. Terrell is coming off an offseason injury that limited her for most of Summer and preseason practice.
Junior forward Nevaeh Zavala (6’0), from Plano, TX, also returns after averaging 5.1 points and 3.3 rebounds. She was selected to the 2nd team preseason All-Big South. A natural stretch-forward type of player she really began to show confidence last season and elevated her inside offensive game and rebounding abilities to match her three-point shooting towards the back half the season. An overall tough matchup for most Big South defenses, I look forward to seeing her progress once again this season.
Senior guard Shak Baskerville (6’1) from Clemmons, NC also returns. She averaged over 5 points a game and has contributed meaningful minutes off the bench over her entire career at HPU.
Junior guard Anna Hager (6’0) from Sweden returns after averaging over 5 points a game and 1.3 assists. She has shown offensive explosiveness at times, scoring 10+ points in five of here twenty-two games last season.
Aaliyah Collins (5’6), a senior guard from Washington state, returns after appearing in 8 games last season. She’s a former All-WAC selection that has shown she can score points in bunches when healthy.
Other returners include redshirt freshmen Emma Larios and Peyton Gerdes, both will see their first game action with the Panthers this season.
Now for the fresh faces.
Transfer Jaleesa Lawrence is a 5'11 guard from Meridian, Idaho that was second team All-Big Sky last year at Eastern Washington where she averaged 10.6 points a game and shot 30% from three. She was picked as 2nd team All-Big South preseason and figures to be a major contributor for the Panthers.
Transferring from Hampton is forward Ariana Wilkes (6’2) from Columbia, S.C. She played in 20 games last season and averaged close to a block a game. Also transferring in is another Columbia, S.C. native, Audrey Meyers (6’0) a forward from Western Carolina. She started 29 games at WCU last year and averaged over 5 points and 3 rebounds a game. I’m really excited to see these two players provide the Panthers with some height, physicality and overall depth in the front court.
Rounding out the transfers are junior guard Chana Paxixe and senior guard Olivia Medford. Medford, from Rockville Centre, N.Y. was a former junior college All-American who originally was slated to play at Indiana State last year before a season ending injury. Wouldn’t be surprised to see her be a major contributor this season for the Panthers.
The Panthers also have four freshmen entering the program this year. Dom Nesland (Phoenix, AZ), Kenaya Klintman (Malmo, Sweden), Dakota Phillips (Hartwell, GA) and Annalise Lindsay (Miami, FL). Lindsay is the only forward of the group. Nesland and Phillips were both McDonalds All-American nominees and All-State selections in their respective states. Banbury has put together a great foundation for the future with this class.
Another note on the roster is that former Panther player, and Big South Woman of the Year, Callie Scheier has joined the coaching staff. One of the toughest and hardest working players during her time at HPU, I’m sure she will bring valuable insights and leadership to this team.
Schedule
The Panthers nonconference schedule this season is perhaps more challenging than year’s past. For starters, the Panthers play in the Gulf Coast Showcase during Thanksgiving week, where they open with Big 12 power, West Virginia.
Of their 8 other matchups in the nonconference, five of them are on the road. The season kicks off November 4th up I-85 as the ladies take on Elon in Elon, NC; an annual toss-up that is always competitive.
They also play at former Big South foe, Campbell, and continue their annual matchup with Wofford in Spartanburg. A swing through Florida in early December to play Stetson and UCF also faces the Panthers.
At home the Panthers take on a very challenging A10 opponent from down the road in Davidson on November 11th. They also host Denver and Austin Peay in addition to the two exhibition matchups.
This is a nonconference schedule that, quite frankly, will test the Panthers. They should win the exhibition matchups. But there is not a single other game on this slate that is going to be easy for High Point. Elon, Campbell, Denver, Stetson, Wofford, Austin Peay…are all competitive, high-quality mid-majors that will be measuring sticks for this team as they progress through the season.
Davidson and UCF are power conference foes that would be very impressive wins if the Panthers could get them. The Gulf Showcase is also stacked with talented power conference teams as well.
League
Things get a little easier for HPU in the Big South. As I mentioned before, the ladies were picked to win the Big South regular season, and for good reason. There has a been a lot of transfer noise and roster rebuild across the Big South this offseason.
While you can never count out Radford and coach Mike McGuire, the two teams I am keeping an eye on are Winthrop and Charleston Southern.
Semeka Randall Lay returns several key contributors on her Winthrop team that has been steadily improving the last couple of seasons. They’ll have experience to go with talent and I think they will be the Panther’s toughest competition.
Charleston Southern is also another team I’m keeping an eye on. They may fly under the radar because they lost Kennedi Jackson, but coach Clarisse White also returns a number of key players, many of whom are making that Freshman to Sophomore jump where you tend to see a big improvement. They’ll be a tough test in the Big South.
Overall Thoughts
So where does all of this lead us? Well, the Panthers have a much deeper and taller team than we’ve seen in years past. They may not have the Big South POY but they certainly have a deep roster full of players that very well could put themselves in the conversation and make first or second team. Like last year, the challenge for Banbury will be finding a consistent mix of contributors and continuity within the team.
As far as W-L record goes, I think HPU will probably have some bumps in the early season due to the tough nonconference schedule. As the season progresses though there should be opportunities to build confidence and continuity as well and the Panthers should be able to hit their stride in conference play. It’s impressive that Banbury has created this level of expectation but it feels like the bar for this team is definitely a regular season championship and a shot at an NCAAT birth.
I’m really excited about the possibilities for this group. If they gel and enjoy playing together then they could be one of the most fun teams we’ve seen under Banbury. If you get the chance, come out and check them out at a game in the Qubein Center. You won’t be disappointed!
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