Box Score BOX SCORE
Postgame with Tooey Loy

The High Point University women's basketball team forced 27 turnovers on the way to a 79-39 win over Coastal Carolina Monday afternoon in the Millis Center. The 40-point win is the Panthers' largest of the season.

“I thought we were very good tonight,” said head coach Tooey Loy. “We were very active defensively. We had hands in passing lanes and forced 27 turnovers. It was just great effort and focus defensively. It all started with the defense and then we were able to get out and run in transition.”

HPU improves to 9-6 overall and 2-0 in the Big South with the win. The Panthers have won five straight and seven of their last eight.

Freshman Erin Reynolds led all scorers with a career-best 15 points for HPU. The Beckley, W.Va., native also had a career-high five rebounds and tied her career high with five assists.

Coastal took a 6-2 lead to start the game, scoring four of its six from the free throw line. HPU managed to settle down though and a baseline layup by junior Amy Dodd sparked a 19-2 run over the next seven minutes, putting the Panthers up 21-8 with nine minutes left in the half. High Point forced eight turnovers during the run, scoring 12 points off those turnovers. Sophomore Shamia Brown scored six points during the run for High Point.

CCU ended the High Point run with five-straight points to cut the Panther lead to eight and the game settled into a back-and-forth contest for a couple minutes.

HPU led by 10, 27-17, with just over six minutes remaining in the half but closed the period on an 18-3 run to push the lead to 25, 45-20, at the break. Reynolds scored four of the first eight points in the run and each of HPU's final two baskets to finish with eight points during the run.

Brown led all scorers with 12 points in the first half for the Panthers while Dodd added 11. Courtney Grambley and Olivia Irick each scored five points to lead Coastal Carolina.

High Point continued to press its advantage at the start of the second half, using a 24-7 run to build its lead to 42, 69-27, midway through the second half. Reynolds continued her strong play from the end of the first half, scoring seven points during the run.

With the lead well in hand, High Point fell back into a zone defense for the closing minutes of the game, ultimately winning, 79-39.

The Panther defense forced 27 turnovers and had a season-best 17 steals in the win. In all, HPU scored 31 points off turnovers in the contest. The 40-point margin was High Point's largest ever against the Chanticleers.

“The team has been really focused on what we tell them in the scouting report and they take that to the floor,” said Loy. “They brought high energy tonight. We were a step quicker than Coastal and Coastal is a good basketball team. They didn't have their best performance but we are going to take some credit for that. We were quick and they were never able to get settled into their offense because of our speed.”

Dodd and Brown each scored 13 points for the Panthers, joining Reynolds in double figures. Senior Ashlee' Samuels led High Point in rebounds for the fifth straight game, pulling down eight boards.

Irick scored 10 points to lead all scorers for CCU which falls to 9-5 overall and 0-2 in the Big South.

High Point will look to continue its hot play when it hits the road to play at Radford on Saturday, Jan. 9. Tip-off against the Highlanders is scheduled for 3 p.m.