HIGH POINT, N.C. – Head Coach
Chelsea Banbury earned her 100th career win as the High Point University women's basketball team defeated Charleston Southern, 78-51, on Wednesday night. Banbury is the fastest coach in the HPU Division I era to reach 100 wins and the third fastest in Big South history.
Site: Qubein Center
Score: High Point 78, Charleston Southern 51
Records: High Point (8-8, 3-0), Charleston Southern (5-11, 1-2)
Head Coach Chelsea Banbury: "Anytime you can win in a conference game, I am happy. I thought we had a strong second quarter, but I do not think we played a complete game. I think we got a little complacent in the second half. We weren't getting as many stops, fouled way too much, which means we weren't able to get out and run. I think that is when we're at our best, when we can get stops and get out and run. We must do a better job of doing that for 40 minutes. I wish the second half was better, but I do think we had some bright spots, especially in that second quarter."
The Panthers and the Buccaneers were trading off points to start the first quarter.
Nevaeh Zavala started the scoring for High Point with a rebound and a put-back. The Bucs' went up five, 12-7, before High Point scored five unanswered points capped off with a three pointer from
Jaleesa Lawrence to tie it at 12. High Point took a 18-15 lead to the second quarter.
High Point's defense forced the Bucs' to freeze as HPU held them to seven points in the second quarter. Lawrence was a leading factor on defense as she was always getting tipped balls leading to turnovers. The Panthers were quick to jump to a 12-point lead after
Nakyah Terrell drained a three pointer with 5:09 left.
Aaliyah Collins was the leading scorer for a reason as she went behind the back on a fast break layup to extend the Panthers lead to 20. High Point headed to the break with a, 44-22 lead.
The Bucs' started the second half with a good three pointer by Tyonna Bailey before HPU went on a 8-0 run. HPU took its biggest lead of the game after they went up 29 points from a Lawrence layup in the paint. Charleston Southern slowly chipped away as they had a few free throws to go in to cut the lead. The Bucs' worked it to a 24-point deficit heading to the fourth quarter.
High Point would coast to the finish line as they kept a 20-plus point lead all the way to the buzzer. Lawrence swished a three just under a minute into the quarter to take High Point back to a 26-point advantage. Banbury started to sub in some bench players as Anna Hager was able to contribute with a big time three pointer.
Peyton Gerdes,
Dakota Phillips, and
Audrey Meyers all added some late points as High Point secured the 27-point victory over the Buccaneers.
Collins led the floor tonight with 17 points as she went 7-for-10 from the field. Terrell, Zavala, and Lawrence were the three other Panthers to score in double figures. Lawrence tallied six rebounds, and three assists in 27 minutes on the floor.
Up Next: High Point will hit the road to Gardner-Webb University on Saturday, January 11 for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off in Boiling Springs.
#H3U x #GoHPU
