But Temple College’s Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference home opener wasn’t nearly that easy.
The Lady Leopards took a 12-point lead into the half, trailed by one with seven minutes to play, then surged ahead for the win over the Hill Lady Rebels at TC Gym on Saturday.
“It was a great win,” Temple coach Kim Sebek said. “Even though we had some lapses, we were able to get a run there at the end and knock down some baskets. You hate to say this early in conference that this was a must-win, but this was a must-win.”
The Lady Leopards could do no wrong in the first half and led 50-38 at halftime but found themselves trailing 67-66 with the Lady Rebels holding all the momentum with just over 7 minutes to play.
“It’s always frustrating to see a lead deteriorate,” Sebek said. “I had to tell them to settle down, there’s a lot of time left in the game, and they aren’t going to win it on one possession. We need every possession to count.”
That’s when Temple’s defense started to kick in. A basket by Mareta Bailey gave TC the lead back. Then, the Lady Leopards (7-8, 1-1) forced several turnovers but weren’t able to capitalize on most of them until Marisa Rauss found Bailey for an easy basket underneath and a three-point lead with 5:45 to go.
Temple again failed to capitalize on more Hill turnovers until Bailey got fouled on a fast break and sank both free throws to put TC up 71-66 with just under four minutes to go.
Hill (4-11, 0-2) tried to answer with a 3-point attempt by Brittany Brown. But the miss set up an easy basket for Temple as Kristel Munson grabbed the rebound and went coast to coast on the fast break for a 73-66 lead.
Temple High School product Shondria Combs grabbed one of her game-high 11 steals on Hill’s next possession and found Rauss for an easy jump shot on the other end to complete a 10-0 run for Temple, which gave it a 75-66 lead with just over three minutes to play. Then, TC sealed the win in the final few minutes at the free-throw line.
“Overall the girls did a great job,” Sebek said. “We didn’t lose our composure when they went up and we stayed in it, executed, and did the things we needed to do. I’m proud of the girls to get the first conference win.”
Rauss led the Lady Leopards with 23 points, relying heavily on a beautiful hook shot.
“It really is a lost art,” Sebek said of the hook shot. “She hit nine of 15 and that’s pretty good. But I give her a hard time because I think she should make everything. She made some big shots today.”
Bailey scored 22 points, 16 in the first half, and Combs added 19. Both took more scoring opportunities to make up for the absence of shooting guard Alex Pinney, who missed her first game of the year with a slight injury. She should return to the lineup on Wednesday.
“With Alex not playing we had to switch some players around,” Sebek said. “I think Munson came in and did a good job. She and Combs complement each other well, so we may see more of that in the future.
“I think we finally saw Mareta’s capabilities. She’s a bit versatile because she can knock down the 3. It’s unfortunate that she’s probably about 1-for-25 now (from 3-point range) but the one she shot today was big, and I think it was time for her to step up and do her job.
“She responded well and we were able to take advantage of some mismatches we had on defense.”
The Lady Leopards host Ranger at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
mhood@temple-telegram.com
