(Pictured: The Region XIV champion Blinn College women's basketball team)
For the first time in six years, the Blinn College women's basketball team will take a trip to the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship tournament.
The 17th-ranked and top-seeded Buccaneers built a big lead before staving off a furious Trinity Valley comeback en route to an 85-74 victory to capture the Region XIV Tournament championship on Saturday in Jacksonville, Texas.
The win advances Blinn (28-4) to the national tournament for the first time since 2016. The Bucs will enter the field of 24 on March 16 in Lubbock, Texas.
"I'm so proud of these kids," Blinn head coach Jeff Jenkins said. "The fact that we tied for first place in conference when that had never happened for us before, and then they come out and win this tournament; this is the most special group I've ever coached – they just find ways to win."
It appeared Blinn had a blowout in the works as it built a 31-13 cushion early in the second quarter, but the second-seeded Cardinals staged a 29-18 rally to make it a 49-42 Buccaneer lead at the half.
Blinn freshman guard Telisha Brown scored 18 of her game-high 23 points in the first half to give the Bucs a boost.
"We knew we wanted to win this one, so we came out hyped," said Brown, who was named the tournament MVP. "Trinity Valley is obviously a great team, and we knew they were going to go on a run, but we just came together with our coaches and said, 'We have to lock in, play defense, and get this win so we can go to nationals.'"
(Pictured: Blinn College's Telisha Brown)
A 14-1 Trinity Valley run early in the third period tied the game 54-54, but the Buccaneers responded with a big push of their own, reeling off an 11-0 move capped by freshman Jakoriah Long's 3-pointer to make it 65-54.
Blinn led 67-57 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals made one last push and pulled within 69-62 in the opening minutes of the final period, but a 10-2 run put the Buccaneers in firm control the rest of the way.
"We came out strong and we came out knowing that we'd make history if we earned this win today," Blinn third-year sophomore Deja Adrian said. "It means a lot to us, and we couldn't have done this without depending on each other and trusting each other to get this done.
"This means a lot. We're a family, so to be able to make it this far with these girls after all the hard work we've put in all season, it definitely means a lot."
Behind Brown, Long tallied 16 points, freshman guard Skylar Barnes had 13, and freshman guard Hannah Humphrey finished with 11. Brown and freshman forward Chynell Mitchell had four assists apiece, and freshman guard Tiffany Tullis pulled down eight rebounds.
Humphrey and Barnes were named to the all-tournament team.
The NCJAA Division I Women's Basketball Selection Show will air live on the NJCAA Network at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, March 6. All at-large selections and full tournament seeding will be announced during the show. Visit https://www.njcaa.org/network/landing/index for more information.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
