ROCK HILL, S.C. – Nakyah Terrell led the floor with 20-points as the High Point University women's basketball team cruised past Winthrop University,73-55, on Saturday afternoon.
Site: Winthrop Coliseum
Score: High Point 73, Winthrop 55
Records: High Point (11-10, 6-2), Winthrop (10-10, 4-3)
Head Coach Chelsea Banbury: "I'm really proud of our girls to come in and get a win on the road. I thought Chana (Paxixe) was excellent in the second half fueling our defense and making plays. That really gave us the separation that we needed."
Nevaeh Zavala won the opening tip and HPU was off and running.
Jaleesa Lawrence knocked down an open three to kick-start the Panthers offense. That wasn't the only long ball to go in as HPU went 3-for-3 from deep in the first quarter which led to its 17-12 lead after the first 10 minutes.
Winthrop came out to start the second quarter by making a jumper to cut the lead to three. HPU jumped back out to a five-point lead after Anna Hager hit a free throw and
Dom Nesland drove to the hoop for a layup. The Panthers took a commanding nine-point lead after
Shakira Baskerville hit both of her foul shots with 3:19 left in the half. A little over a minute without either team scoring, High Point took its biggest lead of the game after Zavala took the feed from Nesland under the hoop before the buzzer. High Point led 38-28 at the break.
High Point held the Eagles to just 10-points in the third quarter as the Panther worked their way to a 17-point lead. Scoring from Terrell boosted the Panthers to create a bigger cushion for the lead as well as help from team defense. High Point went on a 7-0 run over a three-minute span before the Eagles hit a jumper to close out the third quarter.
The Panthers did not let off the gas in the fourth quarter, but Winthrop was able to get buckets to fall. High Point's double-digit lead allowed them to be more creative and sub in girls off the bench. HPU took its lead to 23 at one point after Baskerville converted on a layup in the paint. Winthrop cut the lead down to 16 with just under a minute left after a pair of good free throws fell.
Audrey Meyers checked in and hit a jumper to bring High Point's point total to 73 as the final buzzer sounded.
Terrell led the floor with 20 points - just one point shy of her career-high, and four away from 1,000 career points - and five assists. Lawrence was right behind Terrell with 17 points and four rebounds. Zavala was also in the double figures with 14 points, and three rebounds.
Up Next: High Point will enter its bye week before hosting Presbyterian College to the Qubein Center on Saturday, February 1 at 7:00 p.m.
#H3U x #GoHPU
