In a fiery, physical battle between conference opponents, the #11 McLennan women hammered the Hill Lady Rebels 90-39.
The teams fought to an 8-8 with 6:20 to play in the first quarter. A four-minute 14-0 bookended by buckets from Tajenae Gooden gave McLennan the 22-8 lead with 2:40 to go in the first. McLennan handled Hill on the defensive end of the floor, allowing the Rebels just three free throws in the final two minutes, pushing the lead to 15 after one quarter of play, 26-11.
McLennan continued its dominance into the second quarter. Back-to-back buckets by Jalayah Ingram extended the lead to 19 early on, 30-11. Kiah Goynes was the hot hand for Hill, scoring 11 of the Rebels' 14 points scored in the quarter. McLennan led by as many as 25 midway through the quarter and held the 49-25 advantage at the break.
Both teams seemed to mellow some after the half, playing less frantically and with more intention. McLennan held the 20-plus lead until late in the third quarter. Already leading 61-34, a 6-0 run by Charnelle Hoof pushed the McLennan lead to 33, 67-34, with 1:46 tp play in the third. After exchanging baskets, McLennan led 69-36 going into the final quarter.
Goynes added a free throw for Hill less than a minute into the fourth. McLennan responded with 5-0 run and continued to roll through the frame, leading by as many as 41 down the stretch.
McLennan improves to 17-1 on the season and 5-1 in conference. The team will travel to Temple Saturday to face the Leopards at 2 p.m.
