Box Score HIGH POINT, N.C. – The High Point University women's basketball team earned its largest margin of victory in a conference game with the, 84-31, win against USC Upstate on Wednesday night.
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 84, USC Upstate 31
Records: High Point (10-10, 5-2), USC Upstate (4-15, 1-5)
Head Coach Chelsea Banbury: "Today was a great team win. The girls did a great job of coming out and setting the tone with our defense making a lot of plays. Jaleesa (Lawrence) and Chana (Paxixe) did a great job of fueling that as they were able to get their hands on a lot of balls. We were able to trap the post when it went inside and took them out of what they wanted to do. We were able to cause turnovers and turn those into points and get out in transition. I'm happy with the group effort and hopefully we can continue to play defense like this."
Not only was this High Point's largest margin of victory in a Big South game, but they did so by going on a 22-0 run to end the first quarter which set them up with a cushion for the remainder of the game. High Point's offense was led by
Chana Paxixe who had a career-high day with 14 points, and
Jaleesa Lawrence also with 14 points. Anna Hager led with eight boards and went 3-3 from the free throw line.
It was raining buckets all night long inside the Qubein Center as Paxixe, Lawrence, and
Nakyah Terrell took over from three in the first quarter.
Lauren Scott started the second quarter with a made three to put HPU up 25, before the Spartans hit one of their own. Paxixe answered right away with another made three to bring the lead back to 25. At the break, High Point held a 25-point lead, 40-15.
Lawrence entered double figures to start the second half as she drove to the hoop for an easy layup. The Panthers started to put on a clinic on the court as Terrell placed a perfect pass around the defender to find the cutting Lawrence for the open layup. High Point's lead just kept growing as the game went on. The Panthers defense put on a display as they only let in four points in the whole third quarter to take their biggest lead of the game into the fourth quarter up 42 points.
Banbury made some subs in the fourth quarter as
Olivia Medford checked in and was a quick impact on the floor. Medford had a four-point play after she was fouled on a made three pointer that sent the HPU bench into a frenzy. The 23-points scored by HPU in the fourth quarter soared them to a 53-point victory over the Spartans.
Up Next: High Point will hit the road again to face the Winthrop Eagles on Saturday, January 25. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.
#H3U x #GoHPU
