BRENHAM, Texas — The No. 24 Blinn College women's basketball team (20-5, 9-4) defeated Coastal Bend College, 96-60, on Wednesday night in the Kruse Center for its 20th win of the season.
"It has been a long three seasons since we have had 20 wins and I am proud that this team did it," said Jeff Jenkins, Blinn head coach. "They have been working so hard and I am proud of them and proud of my assistant coach, and they deserve it. We play a tough conference schedule against a lot of good teams and winning 20 games is not easy."
Mia Cherry led the Buccaneers with 17 points, while Hailey Atwood and Mariel Wade each scored 15, and Kristine Ezimako scored 12.
"It feels great to get our 20th win of the season because we have worked so hard in practice and wanted to put on a show for everybody," Wade said. "I wanted to have a big game for my team. We are so competitive every game and I love this team."
Alanna Spencer made three shots from downtown to lead the Buccaneers to a 23-12 lead in the opening quarter, while Cherry contributed seven points with a 3-pointer, a 2-pointer, and two free throws. Blinn leaped out to a 9-1 lead as Wade, Cherry and Spencer all made 3-pointers. Alex Bowman scored the final two points in the quarter for Blinn.
Atwood jumped into the action, scoring 13 points in the second quarter for Blinn to lead 46-28 at the break. Coastal Bend outscored Blinn in the beginning of the quarter to pull within 34-25 of the Buccaneers. Cherry sparked the offense with a 3-pointer to start a 5-0 run. Atwood scored the final seven points of the quarter for Blinn to stay ahead by 18 points.
Blinn separated from Coastal Bend by 40 points in the third quarter to enter the last period of the game with a 79-39 advantage. Blinn opened the quarter on a 16-2 run to take a 62-30 lead. The Buccaneers capped off the quarter with nine straight points to pull ahead by 40.
Wade, who scored a season-high in points, led Blinn with seven points in the final quarter. She kicked things off with the first four points for the Buccaneers to lead 83-41. Jenessa Souza scored Blinn's final four points for the 36-point victory.
Next, the Buccaneers will head on the road to take on No. 10 Tyler Junior College on Saturday, Feb. 15, at 2 p.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 41 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
