DURHAM, N.C. — Senior forward Paulina Afriyie was one rebound shy of a double-double for host North Carolina Central University, but High Point University swished a dozen 3-pointers to pull away to a 78-58 non-conference victory Sunday afternoon in McDougald-McLendon Arena.
 
Afriyie led the Eagles with 16 points, nine rebounds and two steals. Freshman Anissa Rivera matched her season-high total of 14 points as she sank a trio of 3-pointers. Junior Kieche White reached double-digit scoring for a third straight game with 11 points.
 
The Panthers led wire-to-wire, using a hot hand early to secure their second win of the season.
 
High Point (2-4) rode the sharpshooting of sophomore guard Skyler Curran, who scored a game-high 31 points. Curran made half of her field goal attempts (10-20), including six 3-pointers, and 5 of 6 (83.3%) free throws to tally a new career-high 31-point performance.
 
Senior Camryn Brown added a double-double for the Panthers. Brown scored 12 points and provided 10 assists on HPU's 26 made field goals as the victors shot 44.1-percent for the contest.
 
High Point entered the contest averaging 11 made 3-pointers per game. Curran drilled the first of five Panther treys of the first quarter in the opening minute to jumpstart the coast-to-coast triumph.
 
HPU made its five early triples on just nine attempts (55.6%) while the Eagles were held to just 5 of 18 (27.8%) shooting in the first quarter, helping the visitors constructed a 15-point advantage, 27-12, after 10 minutes of play.
 
Rivera swished three of her four attempts from behind the arc in the first half to help NCCU stay within striking distance at halftime. The Eagles outscored the Panthers 17-15 in the second quarter to go into the locker room at the intermission trailing 42-29.
 
NCCU kept closing the gap to start the second half and a converted shot in the paint by White finished off a 10-3 run that inched the Eagles within two possessions, 48-42, with 2:18 left in the third quarter.
 
The Panthers responded with a closing 11-2 run in the final two minutes of the period after an NCCU technical foul to reestablish a double-digit buffer, 61-46, heading into the fourth quarter. High Point maintained a comfortable advantage from that point by holding the Eagles to just 25-percent shooting in the final frame.
 
HPU finished with a 46-34 rebounding edge, with senior Miya Bull yanking down a game-high 14 boards. Bull also had a game-high two blocks.
 
NC Central (1-3) will next fly to the west coast over the Thanksgiving holiday break and play in the Cal Classic. The Eagles are scheduled to first play the host University of California Bears on Friday, Nov. 29 at 4 p.m. (1 p.m. PST).