BLINN WOMEN HOLD OFF COASTAL BEND FOR HOME WIN
The Blinn College women's basketball team prevailed 76-68 over Coastal Bend College in a tightly contested Region XIV battle Saturday at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.
The Buccaneers earned their second win over the Cougars this season to improve to 19-8 overall and 9-4 in region play.
The outcome of Saturday's matchup was a stark contrast from Blinn's 36-point win over Coastal Bend on Jan. 24 in Beeville, Texas.
This time around, the Cougars used some hot shooting, especially from the 3-point line, to stay within striking distance of the Bucs from buzzer to buzzer, and at one point used an 11-2 run to grab an eight-point second-quarter lead.
"Coastal Bend plays an unorthodox style with five guards," Blinn head coach Jeff Jenkins said. "Defensively, it was hard for us to play some of our post players because of that. I give Coastal Bend credit, too, because they hit shots and played extremely hard. We did just enough to pull that one out."
The Bucs opened the game with a 9-0 lead, but a pair of 3s helped the visitors tie the game. Blinn used a putback from sophomore guard Tianna Mathis just before the first-quarter buzzer to grab a 17-16 lead.
In the second period, the Cougars sank three more triples as they jumped ahead 27-19. Freshman guard Jonesha Neal ended the run when she sank a 3 of her own, and the Bucs proceeded to go on a 20-0 move to regain control.
Freshman guard Nala Richardson scored six points during the run, while freshman guard Chelsy Singleton added four of her team-high 27.
Coastal Bend answered with a couple of shots as Blinn went into halftime leading 41-31.
"I believe we were the better team, but Coastal Bend kept coming and we had to get locked in," Singleton said. "We had some defensive lapses and Coastal Bend had some players step up and make shots, so we just had to focus on them as much as we could and then worry about making our own shots."
The Cougars kept coming in the third quarter, as they outscored the hosts 17-11 to pull within 52-48 by the end of the period.
Singleton opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back buckets to push Blinn's lead back to eight, and sophomore guard Jasmyn Jackson knocked down consecutive jumpers to make it 62-52 with 7:10 remaining.
Midway through the period, the Cougars got hot from 3-point range again as they hit four in a row to cut the Bucs' lead to 68-66. Singleton interrupted the outburst with a 3 of her own and a jumper.
"Chelsy saved us tonight," Jenkins said. "She put the ball in the hole when we needed it. It seemed like every time Coastal Bend got within a couple of points, Chelsy made a play offensively."
The Cougars used a pair of free throws late to pull within 70-68, but freshman guard Ja'Nya Thomas, Neal, and Singleton combined to make six free throws down the stretch to close out the win.
"We just kept passing the ball around and finding the player that was hot at that moment," Singleton said, "and if they got fouled, they stepped to the line and made their free throws. That was huge for us."
Following Singleton on the scoresheet was Richardson with 11 points, and Thomas and freshman forward Tocarra Johnson with nine apiece.
Blinn gets back to work with a region home matchup against Angelina College at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 28. The tilt will be part of a doubleheader that will see the Blinn men's team take on Angelina at 7:30 p.m.