PASADENA, Texas – A stronger intensity in the second half led to a 92-61 victory for the Blinn women's basketball team here Wednesday night.
The 12th-ranked Buccaneers defeated the San Jacinto Lady Gators behind 25 points from sophomore Fatima Adams and a strong rebounding performance by Amari Jones.
"Any win on the road is a good win," Blinn (26-3, 14-3 Region XIV) coach Jeff Jenkins said.
Blinn got the stops and rebounds it needed to pull away in the second half, and sophomore Shunta Nevitt helped keep San Jacinto guard Lajeah Rice contained throughout the game. Nevitt, a 6-foot sophomore, held Rice to eight second-half points.
"She's a great 3-point shooter," Jenkins said Rice. "I though Shunta did a great job guarding her tonight and made it very hard for her to score."
Nevitt dropped 12 points offensively.
After handily defeating San Jacinto 95-47 at the Blinn P.E. Building Saturday, a game that included Blinn jumping to a 30-2 lead at one point in the first half, San Jacinto did its best to try and pull out an upset over the Bucs.
Blinn led by two points, 39-37, before pulling ahead in the second half.
"We got stops in the second half," Jenkins said. "We didn't rebound and couldn't get any stops in the first half."
With Jones and Adams controlling the defensive boards, the Bucs were able to push the ball and feed their fast-paced offense.
Jones added another 16 points, while sophomores Tayler Weiks and Tierra Tucker each scored eight.
The Bucs remain in a tie for second in the Region XIV Conference standings with Tyler going into the final game of the season. Blinn ends its regular season on the road Saturday with a 4 p.m. game at Paris. If the Bucs and Tyler each win their final game, they'll flip a coin for seeding going into the Region XIV Conference Tournament in Tyler March 4-8. Blinn defeated Paris 68-67 on a late 3-pointer at home Feb. 8.
"We're not looking that far ahead," Jenkins said. "We have Paris to worry about first."
