The McLennan women travelled the long road to Beeville to conquer the Coastal Bend Cougars 59-38 Monday evening.
It was all McLennan from the start. The squad opened with a 10-0 run consisting of a basket each from Tajenae Gooden, Lanaijha Johnson, Charravia Smith, Charnelle Hoof and Danai Lewis. Coastal Bend took six minutes of paly to find the basket with Aniyah Robinson's layup put the Cougars on the board, 10-2. McLennan continued to pull away, extending the lead to 17 at the end of the quarter, 22-5.
Coastal Bend took more of a presence on the floor in the second quarter. The Cougars made a small rally, cutting the lead to 11 at 25-14 with 7:36 to go in the period. McLennan halted the rally with a 7-0 run including a 3-pointer by Taniya Cruthird from the top of the key, 32-14. Coastal Bend's Jalissa King hit a 3-pointer from the corner to stop the run, and it would be a 15-point McLennan lead at the half, 34-19.
McLennan had the momentum to start the third, opening the quarter on a 7-0 run with Hoof accounting for six of those points. The team pushed the lead to 24 at 47-23 with just over two minutes to go but Coastal Bend ended the period on a 5-0 run to cut it to 19 at the end of the period, 47-28.
McLennan outscored Coastal bend 12-10 in the final quarter to hold on to the victory.
Charnelle Hoof led McLennan with 14 points.
McLennan: Nevaeh Otis 1 0-0 2; Kaedynce Cox-Dunlap 2 0-0 6; Ar'Mya Amos-Horsley 0 0-0 0; Shakira Brown 1 3-4 6; Charnelle Hoof 7 0-0 14; Tajenae Gooden 2 0-0 4; Charravia Smith 1 1-2 3; Trinity Butler 0 0-0 0; Joy Dau 0 1-2 1; Danai Lewis 2 3-6 7; Taniya Cruthird 1 2-2 5; Lanaijha Johnson 4 1-1 9; Kamara Effit 1 0-0 2; Totals: 22 11-17 59.
Coastal Bend: Jalissa King 1 0-0 3; Aniyah Robinson2 3-5 7; Jayda Mitchell 2 0-0 5; Malaigha Sweats 6 1-2 13; Lean Perez 3 2-2 10; Brianna Barnes 0 0-0 0; Totals: 14 6-9 38.
Halftime score: McLennan 34, Coastal Bend 19; 3-pointers: McLennan 4 (Cox-Dunlap 2, Brown 1, Cruthird 1), Coastal Bend 4 (Perez 2, Mitchell 1, King 1); Total fouls: McLennan 13, Coastal Bend 8; Record: McLennan 10-1.
