Rock Hill, S.C. – Winthrop fell in the final seconds of overtime in the home finale to High Point by a final score of 65-64 on Wednesday night.
Winthrop (13-15, 7-8 Big South) | High Point (18-10, 11-2) Big South)
Feb. 28, 2024 | Winthrop Coliseum
Winthrop 64, High Point 65 (OT)
How it Happened
First Quarter | The game got off to a sluggish start offensively for both teams. Winthrop's largest lead of the quarter was four, coming at 9-5 with 1:07 left after a jumper by
Ronaltha Marc, who led Winthrop with four points in the quarter. The two teams could muster only four field goals for the first five minutes and eight for the entire quarter as Winthrop led 9-7 at the end of the frame.
Second Quarter | The second quarter was an indicator of what was to come for the rest of the way, a back-and-forth contest. After
Marissa Gasaway started the frame with a layup two minutes in, High Point scored five quick points only to have Winthrop do the same to go back up four with 6:20 left after a free throw by
Jada Ryce. After two free throws by
Nyah Stallings to push the Eagle's lead to five at 18-13 with 5:11 left, High Point went on a 9-3 run to take a 22-21 lead going into the locker room. Winthrop was held without a field goal for the finals 6:20 of the quarter.
Third Quarter | The first four minutes of the third quarter continued to go back-and-forth, with the score tied at 30 at the 5:52 mark after a
Leonor Paisana three-pointer. Then for the rest of the frame, High Point outscored Winthrop 12-10 and held the Eagles to one field goal. The Panthers largest lead of the quarter was six at 38-32 with 3:50 left. At the end of the third, Winthrop trailed 42-40.
Fourth Quarter | Trailing 44-40 a few seconds into the fourth quarter, Winthrop continued to keep the pressure on the Panthers, quickly tying the score by scoring four quick points. High Point outscored Winthrop 8-4 in a two-minute span to take a 52-48 lead with 6:29 remaining. But Winthrop began to battle back, holding High Point scoreless for five minutes while scoring five themselves to go up 53-52 with 4:22 left on a
Blessing Okoh triple. With the Eagles down 55-53 inside of a minute, Ryce forced overtime with a jumper down low with seven seconds left.
Overtime | Winthrop scored the first three points of the extra session, only to have High Point do the same. Ryce responded with a personal 4-0 run but High Point once again scored three straight points. Marc scored the go-ahead free throws with 7.8 seconds left but the Panthers hit the winning basket with 6.2 seconds left.
Statistical Standouts (Team)
- Winthrop moves to 611-906 all-time as a program.
- Winthrop moves to 210-375 in Big South regular-season games.
- Winthrop moves to 351-327 all-time at home.
- This was Winthrop's fourth overtime game this season.
- Winthrop is 2-2 in overtime this season.
- Winthrop is now 15-25 all-time in overtime.
- Winthrop finishes the season 8-6 at home.
- Leonor Paisana is now eighth in school history in career triples made (93).
- Winthrop has recorded more than 30 rebounds in the last five games.
- Winthrop outscored High Point 16-11 in points off turnovers and 10-0 in second chance points.
- Winthrop and High Point both scored 20 points in the paint.
- There were a combined 40 lead changes and 14 ties.
- Winthrop shot 32% from the field in the contest.
- Winthrop shot 88% from the free throw line, a season-high in free throws made.
- Winthrop outrebounded the Panthers, 41-30.
- Five Eagles played more than 30 minutes.
- Three Eagles scored in double figures.
- This was Gasaway's eighth double figure game this season.
- This was a career-high in rebounds for her.
- She also came within three of tying the school record for the most individual rebounds in a single game (Taylor Calvert vs. Troy, Nov. 11, 2012).
- This was also her 15th double figure game in rebounds this season and her 12th double figure game in points this season.
- This was Ryce's 16th double figure game in points this season.
- This was Paisana's 10th double figure game in points this season.
Statistical Standouts (Individual)
Up Next
Winthrop heads to Gardner-Webb for the regular-season finale on Sat., Mar. 2 at 1:00 p.m. on ESPN+.
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