Highlassies hold off Lady Cougars

The McLennan Highlassies staved off a late Collin rally to defeat the Lady Cougars 55-52 and pick up their first conference win.
 
It was a slow start for the offenses. Skye Dugan began the scoring with a pair of free throws for the Lady Cougars with 9:42 to go in the first. McLennan's Valisa Millhouse then put the Highlassies on the board a minute later with a long shot from the elbow to tie the game at two. The game would be tied at four at the under five minute media timeout following a layup by McLennan's Minannah Little and a jumer by Collin's Anjanae Mueck. The Highlassies created some distance with a 6-0 including four points from Kinley Brown and a bucket by Kai Finister, and McLennan led 13-9 at the end of the first.
 
The Highlassies stepped up play in the second. Leading 18-13 with 7:11 to go in quarter, a jumper by Little followed by a steal and bucket by Mitchell pushed the lead to nine, 22-13. Collin pulled within five, 22-17, midway through the quarter and trailed McLennan by seven at the break, 28-21.
 
Mersadez Nephew drained a log shot to open the third for McLennan to extend the lead back to nine, 20-31, but the Highlassies shooters went cold soon after.Collin put together a 9-0 run to tie the game at 30 with 5:42 to play in the third. Back-to-back buckets by Nephew gave McLennan the four-point lead. The Highlassies led 34-21 with 2:54 to go in the third and ended the period with a pair of free throws from both Little and Nephew to take the six-point lead into the fourth, 38-32.
 
The Highlassies took the first double-digit lead of the contest at 48-38 with 5:13 remaining in the game. Collin rallied late and pulled within two on a Dugan bucket and foul shot with 28.2 seconds to play. Millhouse added a free throw for the Highlassies with 19.8 seconds to go and McLennan's defense kept the Lady Cougars without a good shot in the final seconds to seal the win.
 
Nephew led the Highlassies with 14 points and Little added 13.

McLennan 55, Collin 52
Collin: Caroline Glud Rasmussen 3 0-0 6; Beyonce' Lane 0 4-4 4; Skye Dugan 3 11-12 18; Anjanae Mueck 4 0-4 8; Adamari Waddell 0 3-6 3; Mykaila Pickard 1 0-0 3; Nikki Green 1 1-1 6; Dustie Obah 1 2-2 4; Totals: 13 21-29 52.
 
McLennan: Valisa Millhouse 2 3-4 7; Miannah Little 5 2-2 13; Demetrius Lewis 1 2-2 4; Jaydyn Bullard 0 0-0 0; Mersadez Nephew 5 4-6 14; Gabby Owens 1 0-0 2; Kinley Brown 2 2-2 7; Brielle Dorsey 0 2-2 2; Kai Finister 3 0-0 6; Totals: 19 15-20 55.
 
3-pointers: Collin 3 (Dugan 1, Pickard 1, Green 1), McLennan 2 (Little 1, Brown 1); Total fouls: Collin 16, McLennan 23; Fouled out: McLennan (Dorsey); Halftime score: McLennan 28, Collin 21; Record: McLennan 7-7 (1-1).