JACKSONVILLE, Texas — The No. 23 Blinn College women’s basketball team fell to No. 11 Tyler Junior College, 83-68, in the Region XIV semifinals in the John Alexander Gymnasium Friday.
With the loss, Blinn ends the season with an 18-6 record after going 13-3 in Region XIV regular season play.
“We turned the ball over 21 times and gave them 18 offensive rebounds, and with a team as good as Tyler those are mistakes that are hard to overcome,” head coach Jeff Jenkins said. “But there is no other team that I would want to coach than these young ladies. They are very special people on and off the court.”
Hailey Atwood scored a team-high 18 points, Keaundra Eddings scored 16 points, and Jessica Soders recorded a double-double with 12 points and a team-high 13 rebounds. In addition, Deja Adrian put up nine points and recorded nine rebounds, while Telisha Brown tallied nine points and led Blinn with four assists. Chynell Mitchell led the Buccaneers with three blocks, while Atwood led with two steals.
The Buccaneers and Apache Ladies played a close first quarter, but Tyler was able to pull ahead by two for a 17-15 lead moving into the next quarter. In the second quarter, Tyler extended its lead to 42-34.
Tyler continued to build a 65-46 advantage in the third quarter. The Buccaneers outscored Tyler in the final quarter by four points, but the Apache Ladies were able to come out on top, 83-68.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 41 NJCAA national championships since 1987.
