The 10th-ranked McLennan women's basketball squad trampled the No. 17 Temple Lady Leopards 104-70 this afternoon at The Highlands.
Both offenses started off slow in the fast-paced game. Temple led 8-6 with 6:50 to go in the first quarter. A pair of free throws from Mersadez Nephew tied the game at eight and started a 12-0 McLennan run that gave them the 18-8 lead with just over three minutes on the clock. Temple cut the lead to eight with an Evelyn Lorenzo basket before back-to-back 3-pointers from Alaina Payne and Nephew made it a 14-piont McLennan lead, 24-10. Temple ended the period on a 5-2 run to cut the lead to 11, 26-15.
McLennan opened the second quarter on an 8-1 run, including four points from Nephew, to push the lead to 18, 34-16. Temple rallied late in the quarter to cut the lead back to 11, 44-33, but McLennan ended on a 67-0 run to lead 51-33 at the break.
McLennan blew the game open in the third quarter, opening with a 9-0 run, 60-33. The McLennan defense held the Leopard to just 12 points in the quarter while the offense scored 30 in the frame to lead 81-45 after three quarters of play.
Temple outscored McLennan 25-23 in the final quarter but it wasn't enough to overcome the huge deficit.
Mersadez Nephew led McLennan with 31 points, and Aniya Williams added 23. Aysia Ward and Alaina Payne scored 15 and 11, respectively.
Temple: Evelyn Lorenzo 4 5-5 14; Aniyah Lewis 2 5-6 10; Peyton Overton 0 3-4 3; Tia Mitchell 1 0-0 3; Imani McCray 0 0-0 0; Reagan Pavesi 0 0-0 0; Kyiah Hicks 1 2-2 4; Camille Pritchard 5 1-2 13; Erika Suarez2 0-0 4; Wilashia Burleson 7 5-6 19; Totals: 20 21-25 70.
McLennan: Aysia Ward 6 3-5 15; Alaina Payne 4 2-2 11; Mersadez Nephew 10 6-8 31; Jalayah Ingram 4 0-0 8; Peyton Hearvey 1 1-2 3; Niyah Johnson 4 1-2 9; Aniya Williams 10 3-5 23; Kalisha Phillips 2 0-0 4; Totals: 41 16-24 104.
First Quarter score: McLennan 26, Temple 15; Halftime score: McLennan 51, Temple 33; Third Quarter score: McLennan 81, Temple 45; 3-pointers: Temple 5 (Pritchard 2, Lorenzo 1, Lewis 1, Mitchell 1), McLennan 6 (Nephew 5, Payne 1);
Total fouls: Temple 20, McLennan 21; Record: McLennan 22-5 (11-2).
