Not every historic scoring performance comes from a player expected to dominate offensively. For Chloe Donnell, that became especially clear when she erupted for 46 points in Northwestern State’s season opener, tying an NCAA Division 1 women’s basketball record. The remarkable part? The Boerne High School alum had entered the game with a collegiate high of just four points.
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“I don’t think anything could compare to this,” Donnell said, according to Northwestern State’s press release.
“I have never been much of a scorer. I contribute well defensively and other things, but I just shot the ball well. I knew I was hitting, but I didn’t realize it was that many until the fourth quarter.”
Donnell needed just 27 minutes to produce one of the most extraordinary shooting displays in NCAA history. While NSU cruised to a 120-40 win over Ecclesia, the result seemingly became secondary to the NCAA record of 14 threes she hit during the game, matching the mark previously set by Baylor’s Juicy Landrum. Landrum hit that number back in 2019 against Arkansas State.
The performance stands out even more considering Donnell’s journey.
She was a standout high school player at Boerne in Texas, the city where she was born. Unlike what she indicated, she wasn’t just a defensive contributor; Donnell ended her high school career with 1,142 points, 234 assists, and 299 steals, helping her team reach the state semifinals in 2023 and 2024. However, her career hit a roadblock as she began her freshman year.
After graduating from Boerne, Donnell headed to South Alabama. With the Jaguars, though, she was limited to a bench role and did not make a big statistical impact. In 11 games, she averaged just 0.7 points per game while shooting 15.4% from the field and failing to hit a single three-pointer. In fact, she scored just eight points during her time there, half of which came in a blowout win against Florida A&M.
At the end of the season, she transferred to Northwestern State and, against Ecclesia, delivered an unforgettable debut.
Donnell’s historic night unfolded in spectacular fashion, with the guard finding her rhythm immediately. She ended the first quarter with a buzzer-beating three-pointer before repeating the sequence at the end of the second, finishing the first half with 20 points and six threes made. She added another 17 points and five threes in the third, entering the fourth just three short of matching the record.
Donnell knocked down the three long-range shots she needed, tying Landrum’s NCAA D1 record. Her final three came with just 1:18 left on the clock, and she finished with 46 points on 16-for-26 from the field. The most impressive part, however, was that she did all of this while coming off the bench. Her final score became the third-highest single-game score in NSU women’s basketball history, trailing only Pam Hudson’s 48 in 1990 and Linda Grayson’s 47 in 1988.
Northwestern State Coach Left Stunned as Chloe Donnell Gets Special Assist From Familiar Face
Another NSU Devil making his debut was head coach Alan Frey, who was left both amazed and stunned by what he witnessed in his first game as a collegiate head coach.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said.
“It takes a whole bunch of things going on. We were setting screens for her, and sometimes she just caught the ball and said, ‘I’m feeling it; it’s a heat check here.’ We’re going to go with that. When we have someone who is on fire, let’s lean into that.”
The result was an 80-point margin of victory and program records of 120 total points and 20 threes made.
Donnell’s teammates also played an important part in her big night. Point guard KP Parr logged a career-high 11 assists, helping create opportunities for her throughout the game. Parr, who has known Donnell since their high school days in Texas, was particularly invested in getting Donnell the record, as Donnell revealed after the game.
“When we all subbed in in the fourth, KP said, ‘You’re there,'” Donnell said.
“I told her not to say anything. She said, ‘No, I have to. I want the assist…’ Playing with her is way better than competing against her.”
Now, the Devils will look to carry that momentum against a substantially tougher stretch of their schedule. NSU is going to face Arkansas, Oklahoma State, and Louisiana Tech on the road, and Donnell now has a chance to demonstrate that her big night was more than a one-hit wonder.