TYLER, Texas – Blinn College women’s basketball had late game heroics on a banked-in 3-pointer by Bryanna Taylor with 4.6 left to take a 72-70 lead but it wasn’t enough to get the win as Tyler Junior College charged back for an 86-83 overtime victory Wednesday night.
Taylor hit the go-ahead 3 but Tyler hit a layup just before the regulation buzzer sounded and came out on top in the overtime period. With the loss, Blinn falls to 13-7 overall and 6-4 in Region XIV play.
“I was proud of us because of the effort and we really made plays tonight, even in a loss,” said Jeff Jenkins, Blinn head coach. “We just hurt ourselves with costly mistakes.”
Jasmine Redmon was able to lead the Buccaneers with 19 points while Ke’Asia Williams chipped in 18 points. Jade Rochelle scored 11 and Denisha Ford also reached double figures with 10 points. Taylor scored eight while Jasline Chandler and Brenisha Coleman each scored six points in the loss.
Both offenses got out to a quick start as Blinn and Tyler combined to score 41 points in the opening period but it was Tyler claiming a slim 21-20 lead after one. The Tyler lead ballooned to seven points at the half as Blinn was outscored 17-11 and trailed 38-31 at the break.
The Buccaneers made up ground in the third quarter and outscored Tyler 26-21 in the period but still trailed 59-57 after three.
The fourth quarter and overtime period is where most of the drama happened as the game was tied 65-65 with 4:49 left. Tyler inched ahead and laid claim to a 70-69 lead with 9.3 seconds left. That is when Taylor banked in a 3-pointer with 4.6 seconds left but that proved to be too much time left over for Tyler. The Apaches managed to score a layup just before the buzzer and that momentum carried into the overtime period as Tyler held on for the three-point victory.
Blinn will finish out the month with a road game against No. 9 Trinity Valley Community College on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 2 p.m. Trinity Valley is a perfect 9-0 through nine conference games.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 34 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.