DOMINANT SECOND HALF LEADS BLINN WOMEN TO WIN OVER #21 COLIN

Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information

The Blinn College women’s basketball team used a big second half to pull away from No. 21 Collin College for a 66-49 victory Saturday at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.

“That’s a great win,” Buccaneers head coach Jeff Jenkins said. “Collin is always tough. They’re well-coached, they’re tough to guard, and they play hard. I thought we guarded well, and when we make shots, I think we have a chance to beat anybody.”

Blinn (6-1) had trouble finding the basket in the first half, but thanks to its reliable defense, so did the Cougars.

Collin carried a 29-28 lead into halftime, but the Bucs came out of the intermission firing. Sophomore guards Jonesha Neal and Ja’Nya Thomas drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to open the half, and after a Cougars bucket, freshman forward Cynthia LeCompte followed with a layup to give Blinn a 36-31 edge. Collin sank a free throw before Bucs sophomore guard Elizabeth Walton buried a trey of her own to give Blinn a seven-point advantage with 5:15 to go in the third period.

After a Cougars timeout, they immediately turned the ball over to the Bucs on a traveling call, and Neal hit another 3 as she was fouled. Neal made the ensuing free throw, and after sophomore forward Antronea Jackson sank a putback, she hit yet another 3 to put the Bucs ahead 48-32.

“We were getting defensive stops and then turning those stops into transition buckets,” Neal said. “We get tons of shots up every day in practice to be ready for game day, and I think it’s starting to pay off for us.”

Collin cut Blinn’s lead to 50-40 by the end of the third period, but the Bucs answered with the first eight points of the fourth to regain control.

Blinn has won five games in a row.

“I think we’ve been playing much better as of late,” Jenkins added. “I’m glad to see us play well at home against a really good team like Collin and hold a team like that to under 50 points.”

Neal paced Blinn with 16 points, followed by a 13-point outing for sophomore guard Wynter Jones. LeCompte added nine and sophomore forward Tocarra Johnson tacked on eight.

The Bucs get back to work when they visit Temple College at 5 p.m. on Tuesday in Temple.