Ball State was coming, and High Point had to answer.

Inside the opening minute of the fourth quarter in Muncie, the Panthers’ lead had narrowed to 58–54. A game they had controlled for long stretches was becoming a test of how a new coaching staff, five incoming transfers and a returning championship core would respond together.

Meredith Tippner supplied a three-point play. Peyton Gerdes followed with a three-pointer. The advantage grew to 64–56.

Then Taylor Feldman took over, scoring 10 consecutive High Point points during the final quarter through three layups, a three-pointer and a free throw. Juliann Woodard finished with a career-high 20 points, 13 rebounds and four assists.

The Panthers left Worthen Arena with a 78–71 victory and a 3–0 record under first-year head coach Wyatt Foust. Not many teams or coaches have been able to say that over the last several years. The Cardinals were 39-6 at home entering Saturday’s bout over the last 3 seasons.

Furthermore, Ball State was coming off a 26–7 season and had been picked to win the Mid-American Conference. High Point’s first road assignment presented an immediate opportunity to test its rebuilt rotation against an established mid-major contender.

The Panthers met it.

“We needed to face adversity in a big way, and there was plenty of that today,” Foust said afterward. “We grew up a lot and had a complete team effort.”

That effort connected the program’s past to its present. Gerdes and Brecken Snotherly, returners from Chelsea Banbury’s final championship team, provided important baskets. Feldman, Woodard and Tippner supplied the newcomers’ production. Rylee Bess scored seven points in the third quarter as Ball State applied pressure.

Three games cannot establish a coaching legacy, but they can reveal how a handoff is taking shape.

At High Point, the standard survived the change on the sideline. Foust’s early work is beginning to show how the Panthers intend to build beyond it.

The foundation came first

Banbury left behind a program accustomed to competing for championships.

High Point won three consecutive Big South regular-season titles from 2024 through 2026, added consecutive conference tournament championships in 2025 and 2026, and reached the NCAA Tournament three times during her tenure. Her final team finished 27–6 and earned a No. 15 seed, the highest in the program’s Division I NCAA Tournament history.

The Panthers had also established a national mid-major presence. High Point climbed as high as No. 5 in the CollegeInsider.com mid-major poll during the 2025–26 season.

That is the foundation beneath Foust’s opportunity.

At Big South Media Day, he acknowledged it directly.

“We were set up for success in a big way,” Foust said, describing the returning players as “the rock and the foundation.”

The roster still required substantial work. Banbury’s departure for VCU coincided with the loss of major contributors, including Macy Spencer, Aaliyah Collins and Nevaeh Zavala. Seven players returned, but Foust had to replace considerable scoring, creation and experience.

His response was to recruit players who could expand the offense’s options while giving the returners meaningful responsibilities.

The expectations remained high. High Point and Radford tied atop the Big South preseason poll, each receiving four first-place votes. The Panthers entered the season pursuing a fourth consecutive regular-season championship.

Foust accepted that inheritance while articulating a larger ambition.

“We should be competing to win games in the NCAA tournament.”

Banbury established championship results. Now Foust is trying to sustain those results while constructing a team capable of advancing even further.

The offensive blueprint: create an advantage, then keep it moving

Foust’s offensive background provides substance behind that ambition.

Under head coach Rechelle Turner at Murray State, he oversaw recruiting and took the lead on offensive game planning. The Racers averaged 84.5, 86.8 and 85.6 points across the last three seasons under Foust’s direction.

Bart Torvik shows those teams finishing sixth, eighth and 30th nationally in adjusted tempo. Their adjusted offensive efficiency rankings were 56th, 27th and 41st.

Those were elite offenses across multiple seasons with different personnel combinations.

At High Point, Foust has described the intended approach plainly.

“We want to play fast, play with a lot of freedom, score a lot of points,” he said at media day.

The more revealing explanation came after the Panthers beat Wingate, when their offense required adjustment.

Against a pack-line defense that pressured the ball while protecting driving lanes, High Point initially settled for opportunities before sufficiently moving the defense. Foust wanted the ball to touch multiple sides of the floor. He began emphasizing reversals, and the Panthers played better once they reached the second side.

From his days with the Racers, it’s clear that Wyatt wants his teams playing fast. And speed can absolutely create an early advantage, but when the defense contains it, the possession needs another action.

A reversal changes the angle of attack and asks defenders to reposition. A player receiving the ball on the second side may face a defense still moving rather than one waiting comfortably in its preferred help positions.

Foust wanted those next opportunities to include genuine pressure on the basket.

“And then your ability to get to the free throw line and to put pressure on the rim will open up the perimeter,” he explained.

The sequence is central to his scheme: threaten the paint, force a response and use that response to create the next shot. An inside-out pass or an extra pass around the perimeter becomes more dangerous when the defense has already committed to stopping penetration.

High Point’s phrase for that decision is “giving up the good for the great.”

Pace versus poise

Feldman supplied an equally useful description after the Wingate game: “pace versus poise.”

The Panthers want to push when they have an advantage. When an opponent gets organized, they need to recognize it, enter their offense and continue making decisions together.

That balance remains a work in progress.

Against Wingate, High Point committed only 10 turnovers and won 75–46 despite shooting 6-for-31 from three. The Panthers made 26 of 41 two-point attempts and produced 19 fast-break points.

Against Ball State, they shot 10-for-22 from beyond the arc but committed 21 turnovers.

Both games belong in the evaluation. The first showed an ability to produce without reliable perimeter shooting. The second showed enough shotmaking, rebounding and late scoring to overcome costly mistakes against stronger competition.

Foust’s Murray State background offers another useful benchmark. According to Torvik, the Racers’ offensive turnover rate stayed near 17% in each of Foust’s final two seasons on Turner’s staff.

Playing quickly and protecting possessions can coexist. High Point’s task is to make that combination repeatable.

Versatility makes the scheme work

Foust’s roster construction gives him several ways to create an advantage.

At media day, he explained that Feldman, Tippner and Woodard had all been used in the post, as perimeter threats off the dribble and in pick-and-pop actions.

“We can attack mismatches and weaknesses all over the floor,” he said.

That flexibility makes conventional positional labels less useful than the responsibilities each player can handle.

Feldman is the primary organizer and scorer. The former first-team All-Big Sky guard arrived from Purdue with experience creating offense and carrying responsibility. Through three games, she’s averaging 18.0 points and 3.7 assists.

Her fourth quarter at Ball State illustrated the range of that role. She reached the basket repeatedly, made a three and added a free throw. The closing production came from several locations, making it harder for the defense to solve the problem with one adjustment.

Woodard changes the choices available around the ball. A forward who can shoot, rebound, pass and attack off the dribble creates different defensive demands from a player whose role ends at setting a screen.

Feldman specifically praised their pick-and-roll connection at media day, pointing to Woodard’s shooting and ability to drive downhill.

The tactical possibilities follow from those skills. If a defender stays deep to contain penetration, Woodard can move into shooting space. If the defense closes aggressively, she has the ability to attack. If a switch creates a favorable matchup, Foust can change where the possession goes next.

Those are options supported by the players’ skill sets and the coach’s stated approach; they are not a claim that every option has already become a regular feature.

In Muncie, Woodard supplied tangible production: four threes in six attempts, 13 rebounds and four assists. Her impact extended across shooting, possession recovery and distribution.

Tippner gives the offense another adaptable decision-maker. Foust recruited her for the range of contributions she could provide, from scoring to defending different positions. Through three games, she averaged 12.3 points, eight rebounds and 2.3 assists.

Her three-point play early in the fourth quarter at Ball State demonstrated the value of having another player capable of delivering an important scoring possession alongside Feldman and Woodard.

Shooting depth, returning experience

Bess and Khloe Lemon broaden the perimeter options.

In announcing the transfer class, Foust highlighted Bess’ quick release and range, along with her ability to make plays off the dribble. He described Lemon’s combination of three-point volume and foul drawing as a fit for the system.

Their early contributions have come in different games.

Lemon led High Point with 16 points and four threes in the 88–39 opener against Lees-McRae. Bess supplied seven third-quarter points at Ball State, helping the Panthers navigate the home team’s surge.

An offense with several credible scoring options can respond when the opponent concentrates on its primary creators. The Panthers appear to have that sort of depth and versatility.

The returning players are part of that flexibility, too.

Gerdes scored 14 points and collected eight rebounds in the opener. Through three games, her averages have risen to 10.0 points and 6.3 rebounds, compared with 6.3 and 2.7 the previous season.

Snotherly averaged a team-leading 30.6 minutes during the opening week and contributed important driving baskets against Ball State.

Those early numbers come from a small sample that includes two Division II opponents. Their roles, however, are already clear: both are playing substantial minutes and contributing alongside the transfers.

The handoff is visible in who is on the floor when High Point needs a response.

History of Adapting

Foust proved in his time with the Racers his ability to adjust his offensive emphasis to best fit his personnel.

Last year’s Murray State team heavily emphasized getting downhill and attacking the rim (24.2% of possessions). Meanwhile, the pick-and-pop that had been a solid staple of previous offenses cratered.

Most importantly, the broader results stayed productive, even as the distribution changed.

These changes in tendencies and schemes show that the offensive environment he helped shape accommodated different ways of scoring.

At High Point, his own comments point toward similar flexibility. He wants to be creative with matchups because several players can perform more than one offensive job.

The first week offered an initial demonstration. Six players reached double figures in the opener. Against Wingate, the Panthers adjusted toward a more effective interior offense. At Ball State, perimeter shooting and Feldman’s late penetration helped secure the win.

The question over the coming months is whether those choices remain effective as opponents develop more detailed scouting plans.

Don’t Forget the Defense

Foust’s most revealing reaction to the Wingate victory concerned what happened when shots missed.

As the Panthers struggled offensively, he thought their defensive effort intensified.

“It seemed like we dug that much deeper in defensively,” he said in the postgame interview.

High Point finished with 12 steals and held Wingate to 35.1% shooting. The defensive work helped create opportunities to run and kept the game under control while the offense found better answers.

For a team whose ambitions depend partly on pace and perimeter production, shooting will vary. Defensive engagement and rebounding give the Panthers other ways to stay competitive.

As the old adage goes, defense always travels. Rebounding also usually stays consistent regardless of the atmosphere.

At Ball State, High Point won the rebounding battle 48–41 and held the Cardinals to 36.8% shooting. Those contributions helped offset the turnover deficit.

An offense with considerable freedom needs a team capable of staying connected when that freedom produces mistakes. So far, the Panthers have shown that capability.

Building Beyond this Year

Foust’s recruiting work also extends beyond this season.

Charlotte Cavin and Mia McGregor’s commitments provide a future-facing component to the program’s plans.

Cavin and McGregor are the two highest-ranked High School commits in High Point and Big South women’s basketball history.

McGregor is ESPN’s No. 90 prospect in the 2027 class and averaged an astounding 42.6 points per game as a junior last season.

Cavin is another 4-star recruit and an absolute sniper. She shot 63.3% from beyond the arc and 89.3% from the free-throw line in her EYBL circuit. In her high school season she stuffed that stat sheet with over 22 ppg, 8 rpg, 4 apg, and 3 spg.

Much like with the men’s team, this is yet another evolution for this women’s program. It shows a commitment of resources and the ability to attract elite talent, both in the portal and in the high school ranks.

The next standard must be earned

Foust has connected his ambitions to the schedule as well as the roster.

At media day, he explained that the non-conference approach was designed to prepare High Point for March and create an opportunity for a more favorable NCAA Tournament seed, should the Panthers qualify.

The Ball State trip was an early test of that approach.

High Point returned with a win, evidence of its newcomers’ immediate value and another demonstration of why its returning players matter.

It also returned with 21 turnovers to address.

Both parts belong in the picture.

The Panthers have yet to defend a conference title under Foust. They have not surpassed Banbury’s championship accomplishments.

What they have done is begin the transition with a coherent offensive vision, meaningful contributions across the roster, a road victory against an excellent opponent, and signs of an extremely bright future for this season and beyond.

That is what passing the baton looks like at High Point. Stand on the foundation and climb even higher.