BRENHAM, Texas – Denise White and the Blinn Buccaneers used a fast start to overwhelm the San Jacinto Gators in a Region XIV Conference game at the Blinn P.E. Building here Wednesday night, 79-54.
Blinn jumped out to a 21-5 lead and extended that advantage to 40-20 by halftime as White scored a game-high 21, Christie Mooney scored 12 and Breanna Barnett came off the bench to add 10 points.
“We had to have this one,” said Blinn coach Jeff Jenkins, whose squad improved to 17-7 on the season and 6-7 in conference play.
San Jacinto fell to 8-16 on the season and 0-14 in conference with the loss, but Jenkins said he was worried heading into the contest. San Jacinto freshman guard Jessica Hines came into the game averaging 18.2 points per game, the third-best mark in the conference, and the Gators boast pair of posts listed at 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-2.
“San Jac’s record is not very good but they’ve played everybody in our league close,” Jenkins said. “Jessica Hines is one of the best guards in our league and they have two posts who are Division I-caliber. They have a lot of talent.”
But the Bucs never let San Jacinto get into the game as White, a sophomore, hit four field goals and had 11 points by halftime.
The win was Blinn’s second in a row after a tough stretch in which the team lost three consecutive games, including two meetings against No. 1-ranked Trinity Valley.
Now the Buccaneers will have an opportunity to make a run with several games on their home court in the final three weeks of the regular season. Blinn travels to Jacksonville College Saturday before playing back-to-back home games next week.
“We have a favorable schedule the next three weeks,” Jenkins said. “We’re just coming out of a stretch where we had some tough road games and we had to play Trinity Valley twice. Hopefully this game gives us some confidence.”
For more information on Blinn women’s basketball, visit www.buccaneersports.com.