Facing a tie ballgame in the final minutes of another long road trip, the third-ranked Blinn College women's basketball team decided it was time to go home.

The Buccaneers broke up a 50-all tie with about four minutes left, using a 12-3 run to fend off Ranger College and earn a 62-53 victory over the Rangers on Saturday in Ranger, Texas.

The win pushed unbeaten Blinn to 6-0 and sent the road-tested Bucs four hours back to Brenham with their sixth victory away from home this season.

"It was a grind of a game against a very well-coached team with extremely tough players," Blinn head coach Jeff Jenkins said. "I was proud that we kept our composure down the stretch and got defensive stops when we needed them."

Blinn's tenacity shined through in its latest road effort as the Bucs went-to-toe with a game Ranger squad.

The Bucs controlled the tempo for most of the 40-minute tilt, leading 15-8 after the first period, 34-23 at the half and 48-41 heading into the fourth quarter, but needed a big run to pull away.

(Pictured: Blinn College sophomores Tiffany Tullis, left, and Crystal Smith)

Sophomore forward Tiffany Tullis scored three of her team-high 17 points on a 3-pointer which kickstarted the Bucs' decisive move. Sophomore guards Crystal Smith (16 points) and Jakoriah Long added single free throws to keep it going, and Tullis added a pair of makes from the line to make it 58-50. Two more free throws from Tullis in the final seconds capped the run.

Behind the offensive efforts of Tullis and Smith was a 10-point outing from freshman guard Amyria Walker and an eight-point showing for Long. 

The Bucs have stayed perfect so far this season despite enduring about 48 hours of travel in the 18 days since the season began Nov. 2. Blinn will get some overdue home cooking next week when it plays at home for the first time. The Bucs host Temple College at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 21, at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.

"Our girls have to be tired, but I'm proud of them," Jenkins said. "We're not always playing our best, but we're finding ways to win. I've never had a stretch like this before in my time as a coach. It has been pretty wild, but the girls have battled and again, I'm proud of them."

Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 42 NJCAA national championships since 1987.