BUCS HEAD INTO REGION TOURNEY WITH WIN
Adams leads Buccaneers to comeback victory
PARIS, Texas – Three days after becoming the Blinn women’s basketball team’s all-time scoring leader, it’s only fitting that Fatima Adams led the Buccaneers to a come-from-behind victory here Saturday.
Adams hit 2 of 3 free throws and snagged a defensive rebound in the final 20 seconds to lead the Bucs to a 59-57 victory over the Paris Lady Dragons.
Adams scored a game-high 23 points in Blinn’s final game of the regular season.
“She had to work hard for every one of those 23 points,” Blinn (25-5-15-3) coach Jeff Jenkins said. “She made plays when it counted.”
Blinn need every one of those plays.
Paris led from the opening tipoff and built a 12-point lead in the first half on its way to a 33-27 halftime lead. The Bucs didn’t take their first lead until the final minute of play, and even then Paris wasn’t willing to relinquish a potential upset over the 12th-ranked Buccaneers.
But Adams wasn’t about to let Blinn end its season with a loss.
With 20 seconds to play, Adams drew a foul and hit both of her free throws to give Blinn a 58-57 lead.
The Bucs got a stop on Paris’ next possession and Adams snatched the defensive rebound with four seconds remaining and was instantly fouled. She hit 1 of 2 and Paris missed a long-range 3-pointer to end the game.
“We survived tonight,” Jenkins said. “We missed a lot of layups and had a lot of turnovers, but we played well defensively in the second half and made some stops. A lot of that was because of our depth.”
The Bucs can rotate through 10 players on the court to keep fresh legs.
Sophomore Amari Jones scored 10 points and gave Blinn a strong presence on the boards. Katrina Hayden scored eight points and Tierra Tucker scored six.
The Bucs now shift their focus to the Region XIV Conference Tournament, which begins at the University of Texas – Tyler March 4. Despite tying for second in the conference standings with Tyler, the Bucs will enter the tournament as the No. 3 seed because Tyler won a coin flip to determine the tiebreaker.
Blinn will play the No. 6 seed at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
For more information on Blinn women’s basketball, visit www.buccaneersports.com.