MCLENNAN SPOILS HOME OPENER FOR BLINN WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Story by Joe Alberico, Blinn College Sports Information
The Blinn College women’s basketball team staged a furious rally in the third quarter and went blow-for-blow with No. 14 McLennan Community College in a thrilling fourth before the visiting Highlassies narrowly escaped with a 67-63 victory Wednesday in Brenham, Texas.
“We competed really well tonight,” Blinn head coach Jeff Jenkins said. “I was proud of our effort and proud of the competitiveness, especially from a team as young and as new as ours with 10 freshmen. We’re going to watch film and learn from tonight, but I was happy with this start.”
The Buccaneers (0-1) led 17-13 after the opening 10 minutes inside the Kruse Center but were hindered by a tough second period that saw them score just three points as McLennan took a 31-20 cushion into halftime.
Blinn would not stay quiet for long, however, as the Bucs erupted for 30 points in the third quarter to trim its deficit to 52-50 ahead of the fourth.
Freshman guard Mia Colston gave Blinn a big boost during its comeback with four 3-pointers. She finished with a team-high 18 points, all on 3s.
The Bucs totaled 11 treys.
The game went down to the wire, and the teams were tied 63-all following a Highlassies three throw.
Blinn missed a chance to jump ahead with 1:02 remaining when it failed to sink a pair of free throws, and its final opportunities at a tie or a lead ended with a turnover.
McLennan knocked down two free throws with eight seconds remaining to close out the scoring.
“We had our opportunities, and we missed some open shots,” Jenkins added, “but we’ll get back into the gym and work on that. I thought we were getting great looks all night and that leaves me optimistic for our offense going forward.”
Sophomore guard Mariah Houston added 15 points for Blinn, sophomore guard Jasey Campbell added seven, and sophomore forward Cynthia LeCompte, sophomore guard Taylor Spencer, and freshman forward Amyah Weathersby had six apiece.
Up next, the Bucs will look to get into the win column when they host Hill College at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 10, at the Kruse Center.