No. 5 Blinn rallies in overtime to upset second-ranked Trinity Valley on the road

 

Of Jeff Jenkins' 487 previous victories, only one had come on the road at Trinity Valley Community College.

On Saturday, the fifth-ranked Blinn College women's basketball team increased that number to two. 

The Buccaneers rallied out of a nine-point, fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime before pulling ahead in the extra period to secure an 81-76 Region XIV win over the second-ranked Cardinals in Athens, Texas.

"As far as tough places to play go, wins in Athens do not come around very often," said Jenkins, who is now in his 21st season with the Buccaneers and 24th as a head coach. "It was a great team win for us. To be down 12 in the third quarter and nine in the fourth, we showed a lot of resiliency and fight."

(Pictured: Blinn College sophomore guard Hannah Humphrey)

After the two teams entered overtime tied at 66-all, Trinity Valley jumped ahead 76-75 with less than a minute to go. Sophomore guard Hannah Humphrey (team-high 26 points) put Blinn ahead for good when she sank a wide-open 3-pointer from the wing with 27 seconds remaining.

The Cardinals missed an attempt to tie the game and the Bucs quickly got a transition layup from freshman guard Amyria Walker that put the visitors up four. Sophomore guard Crystal Walker later hit a free throw to seal the victory. 

Humphrey's night included six 3s. Following her offensively was sophomore guard Jakoriah Long, who tallied 12 points, along with sophomore forward Tiffany Tullis and Smith, who finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Sophomore guard Skylar Barned chipped in nine. 

Blinn has won 10 consecutive games and is now 19-1 overall and 7-0 in Region XIV.

The Bucs will face Southwest Assembly of God in non-conference action at 1 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 30, at the Kruse Center in Brenham, Texas.

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