The Lady Leopards made great strides doing so Wednesday night, topping Blinn College 59-47 at TC Gym to improve to 3-1.
“Tonight we earned a victory on our home court,” Sebek said. “It was important to get out first home win, especially against Blinn, who is traditionally a good team and very well coached. We haven’t beaten them in a while.”
The Lady Leopards left little doubt that they would beat the Lady Bucs this time. TC came out playing aggressive defense and setting a fast, physical tone to build a 12-2 lead before Blinn really got going.
The Lady Bucs, who were among the teams receiving votes in the NJCAA preseason poll, fought back to cut it to 30-25 by halftime. But again the Lady Leopards took charge, starting the second half with an 11-2 run.
“We talked at halftime about not just maintaining what we are doing but building on the lead,” Sebek said. “We did a good job putting points on the board.”
The Lady Leopards also did a better job of preventing the Lady Bucs from running their offense. Blinn had just two points during the first 5 minutes of the half and remained in single-digit scoring for the half until there was just less than 9:30 left to play. By then, Temple already had a 50-36 lead.
Part of Blinn’s problem was its inability to hit 3-pointers. The Lady Bucs (1-1), who had made 11 of 27 from long range in their season opening win, were 0-for-15 against the Lady Leopards.
“We knew that they like to penetrate and dish to the open 3,” Sebek said. “At times we contested the shot, and at others we didn’t. We were very fortunate they didn’t shoot well or it would have been the difference in the game. Those shots, if they fall, we are in trouble.”
The Lady Leopards hit only two of eight from long range but didn’t really need 3s as their young guards created multiple turnovers, turned rebounds into quick offensive sets and utilized their speed to create multiple fast-break opportunities.
Blinn, which out-rebounded Temple 42-39, began playing a similar style midway throughout the second half to try to get back in the game. The Lady Bucs closed the gap to 50-43 with several fast-break chances.
But Temple squalled Blinn’ momentum when sophomore point guard Brittany Roberson drained a 3 to build the lead back to 10 points with 7 minutes remaining, and it was just a matter of playing defense from there.
“We switched to a 2-3 zone in the last 3 to 4 minutes of the game to limit their penetrations,” Sebek said. “I think that threw off their offense some, but we didn’t do a good job rebounding when we were in it.”
Freshman Courtney Moore led the Lady Leopards with 14 points. Roberson had 11 and sophomore Mareta Bailey added 10.
Ten TC players scored and all 11 that suited up for the game got significant playing time, almost out of necessity after several players got into foul trouble.
The foul trouble, rebounding and free-throw shooting (Temple was 13-of-21 from the line) are the main things Sebek knows her team has to address in order to continue progressing.
“Free-throw shooting has been a thorn in our side,” Sebek said. “And it’s hard to believe, but this was one of our better free-throw shooting nights. So we are improving. Fortunately, Blinn don’t shoot well from the free-throw line tonight either or it could have been a much closer game.
“We are still learning. We are a young team with young guards who are still learning some of the things we are trying to do. I thought at times we looked pretty good. It was a great team effort, and a great win for us.”
The Lady Leopards will play Lon Morris College in Jacksonville on Friday.
