JOHNSON CITY, TENN. — The High Point University women's basketball team defeated the No.9 seeded UNC Asheville Bulldogs, 85-57, to advance to the semifinals in the Hercules Tires Big South Basketball Championship on Thursday morning.
Site: Freedom Hall Civic Center
Score: High Point 85, UNC Asheville 57
Records: High Point (19-11, 13-3), UNC Asheville (4-27, 1-15)
Head Coach Chelsea Banbury: "I'm really happy how we played the first and third quarters. They did an excellent job of setting the tone defensively. I think Aaliyah (Collins) was huge for us. She had five steals, and we were able to turn those steals into points. I'm proud they came in focused and ready to go."
Four Panthers scored in double figures this afternoon as
Aaliyah Collins led the floor with 18 points, five steals, six assists, and two rebounds.
Nakyah Terrell tallied 15 points, followed by
Jaleesa Lawrence and
Lauren Scott both with eleven points.
High Point dominated the floor all game long as they controlled the ball on offense and was able to cause turnovers on the defensive side of the ball. 27 points off turnovers led by Collins' five steals helped HPU extend its lead throughout the afternoon.
After going up 15 points, 24-9 after the first 10 minutes of play, the Bulldogs outscored HPU 21-15 in the second quarter allowing them to shrink the deficit. Late in the second quarter, a layup by Abigail Wilson cut the Panthers lead to just five points, 35-30. HPU closed out the first half on a 4-0 run to take a nine point, 39-30, lead to the break in Johnson City.
A 6-0 run by the Panthers started the scoring in the second half to push its lead back up to 15 points. High Point kept it rolling as they brought its lead all the way to 26 points by the end of the third quarter.
HPU took its large lead to the fourth quarter only to keep pushing it higher.
Dom Nesland, who had eight points on the day splashed a three pointer to kick things off for High Point. The biggest lead of the game came after
Peyton Gerdes connected on a layup with 2:06 left to give HPU a 35-point lead to play with.
Asheville was able to score a few late buckets to cut the lead to 28 points before the final buzzer sounded. High Point secured its first win of the Hercules Tires Big South Basketball Championship to advance to the semifinals.
Up Next: High Point will play the winner of the 4/5 seed game in the semifinals on Saturday, March 8 at 6:00 p.m. in Johnson City.
#H3U x #GoHPU
