ROCK HILL, SC—Senior Shanice Cole scored a career-high 24 points to lead Winthrop to a 56-50 victory over Big South Conference foe High Point on Senior Day at the Winthrop Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
Cole scored 12 points in each half, but it was her rebound with five seconds to go that helped Winthrop improve to 11-16 overall and 5-8 in the conference. Cole was fouled after rebounding a miss off a long jumper by TaTeisha Dean and nailed both free throws to seal the deal.
Leading 39-38 after Amy Dodd pulled the Panthers within a point with 7:37 as she drained the only three of the night for High Point, Winthrop responded with a 9-2 run and led 48-40 with 4:13 remaining. After Dodd’s three, senior Kathi Ryska hit a runner just outside the lane off the glass to start the run. Cole made a nice feed to sophomore Kaitlyn Rubino for an easy two. Cole went directly to the middle of the paint, jumped up and as the defense was drawn in, dished it to Rubino for the lay-in. Rubino followed that by draining an 18-foot jumper for a seven point lead. High Point answered with a long jumper from Erin Reynolds and called timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Winthrop beat the press and Cole found Mary Hathaway in the corner on the fast break and the freshman guard buried the three for a 48-40 lead. From that point Winthrop was able to hang on.
Winthrop led 27-25 at the half, but High Point (16-12, 9-6) opened up the second half on a 6-0 run behind a jumper in the lane by Frances Fields and a lay-up from Shamia Brown. The run ended quickly as Cole rebounded her own miss and knocked down a short jumper. The Panthers led by four again after Brown hit two free throws, but Cole answered right back with another basket in the lane. This jumper sparked a 6-0 run and put the Lady Eagles back in front, 37-33, with 10:26 remaining in the game. Winthrop did not relinquish the lead the rest of the way.
The game was back-and-forth at the beginning and Winthrop led 11-6 early after a three from Ryska. Reynolds cut the lead to three before Winthrop used a 12-5 run to lead by 10 points with 8:48 to go in the half. High Point held Winthrop to just four more points the rest of the way and made it a two-point game heading into the locker room. Winthrop was 2-for-9 from the field with seven turnovers in the final 8:48 of the first half while the Panthers were 5-for-10.
Winthrop finished the game shooting 48 percent from the floor and 10-for-15 from the foul line. The Lady Eagles held High Point to 30 percent shooting and held their opponent under 60 points for the eighth straight game.
Cole finished the game 10-for-19 from the field and also chipped in with six rebounds, three assists and two steals as she played the entire 40 minutes. Hathaway finished one shy of her career-best with 12 points, but it was her best in a Big South contest. Rubino finished with six points and tied a career-high with eight rebounds. It was fitting that Winthrop was celebrating senior night as all four seniors contributed to the win. Jessica Fansler finished with six points, two rebounds, four assists and a steal. Shelly Hankins had five rebounds, a steal and an assist while also playing good defense. Ryska finished with six points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Brown led High Point with 13 points and eight rebounds while Field chipped in with 12 points, two assists and three steals.
Winthrop now leads the all-time series 16-15 and has won three straight against the Panthers at the Winthrop Coliseum.
Winthrop will close out its home schedule on Monday, March 1 as it hosts Coastal Carolina at 7 p.m. High Point will be back in action on March 8 at 7 p.m. as it wraps-up its season in Lynchburg, VA against Liberty.
