Tayler Tremblay’s 22 Points Lead HPU Women’s Basketball To Victory

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Senior guard Tayler Tremblay scored the final five points and had 22 in the game to lead the High Point University women’s basketball team to a 75-69 win on Wednesday night at the Millis Center. Her 22 points were her career high.

Tremblay shot 8-for-15 from the floor, 6-for-8 from the line and added eight rebounds and five assists in 39 minutes. Redshirt-junior Stacia Robertson scored 11 points and had seven rebounds and three blocks and freshman DeAnneisha Jackson scored nine points with 10 rebounds.

“We needed the experience of a close game,” said head coach DeUnna Hendrix. “We kept our cool and showed a lot of composure in the final minutes. I knew we would be fine with the ball in Tayler’s hands and she came through for us. When we focus on defense and outrebounding the opponent we are a very good team. I am so pleased to see everyone on the team contribute for a balanced win.”

USC Upstate had a pair of 19-point scorers in Brittany Starling and Sharmayne Edwards. Starling also had a team-high nine rebounds.

The game featured several big runs, five lead changes and nine ties en route to the Panthers’ victory. High Point closed the first half on an 11-2 run that included a three-pointer by Teddy Vincent as time ran out. It was Vincent’s only shot attempt of the game. HPU controlled the early part of the second half. A Latrice Phelps free throw made it an 11-point lead (58-47) with 13:09 remaining and it was 11 again when Jackson hit a baseline jumper to make it 60-49 with 12:26 on the clock.

Upstate crawled back from the 11-point deficit to make it 67-67. A three-point play by Starling ignited the 18-7 run, which finished on a Toni Romiti three-pointer from the right side with 4:00 on the clock.

With the score tied, Tremblay drew a foul in the lane and drained one of her two free-throw attempts to get High Point back ahead for good. A travel on the other end gave the Panthers the ball back and freshman Kaylah Keys threaded a pass to Robertson down low, who hit a layup to make it 70-67 and prompt an Upstate timeout.

On the next play, Edwards drove around the left side and hit a layup to make it 70-69. That was Upstate’s final basket, but the drama wasn’t over. A steal gave Upstate the ball back and, after two timeouts, the Panthers forced a five-second violation on an inbounds pass. Tremblay hit 5-of-6 free throws in the last 30 seconds to seal if for HPU.

High Point improved to 2-1 while USC Upstate fell to 2-1. The Panthers survived 14-for-26 (53.8 percent) free-throw shooting in the game.

The Panthers are on the road next when they take on William & Mary on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Williamsburg, Va. The game will have live audio on highpointpanthers.com.