The Highlassies slipped in the final minutes and fell to the Collin Lady Cougars 75-65.
It was a slow start offensively for both teams. Collin opened with a jumper from Nikki Green and layup from Anjanae Mueck to take an early 4-0 lead. Brielle Dorsey put McLennan on the board with a pair of free throws with 6:39 to go in the firs quarter, 4-2. The Lady Cougars pushed the lead to seven, 11-4 with 3:42 to go in the quarter. The Highlassies began to battle with buckets from Mersadez Nephew Dorsey before tying the game at 16 on a long Valisa Mitchell jumper with 56 seconds to play. A Kinley Brown 3-pointer from the elbow put McLennan up by three but a last-second layup by Green cut the lead to one point after one quarter of play, 19-18.
McLennan opened the second quarter on an 8-0 run with back-to-back 3-pointers from Brown and Nephew, and another jumper from Brown to push the lead to nine, 27-18. The Highlassies continued to lead by nine, 31-22, with just under four minutes to play in the second quarter. Collin use an 8-0 run of its own to pull within one, 31-30 with 1:37 to go before halftime. The second quarter ended similar to the first. McLennan led by three following a Brown bucket and a drive in the lane by Collin's Mueck in the final seconds made it a one-point Highlassie lead, 36-35.
The two teams kept it close throughout the third quarter. McLennan led by five, 44-39, with just under six minutes to go in the period but Collin came back to tie the game at 44 just two minutes later. After trading baskets down the stretch, the Highlassies led by one going into the final period, 53-52. McLennan pushed the lead back to four with 6:58 remaining in the game, 63-59, but it would be all Lady Cougars from that point. Collin stole the momentum and ended the game on a 16-2 run to steal the win.
Mersadez Nephew and Kinley Brown led the Highlassies with 16 points each.
McLennan: Valisa Millhouse 3 0-0 7; Miannah Little 1 5-6 8; Demetrius Lewis 1 2-2 4; Jaydyn Bullard 2 0-0 5; Tiarah Starks 0 0-0 0; Mersadez Nephew 5 2-2 16; Kinley Brown 7 0-0 16; Brielle Dorsey 2 4-5 8; Kai Finister 0 0-0 0; Mariona Garcia 0 1-2 1; Totals: 21 14-17 65.
Collin: Caroline Glud Rasmussen 2 0-0 4; Beyonce Lane 0 3-4 3; Skye Dugan 4 4-4 12; Anjanae Mueck 3 0-0 6; Adamari Waddell 2 2-2 6; Mykaila Pickard 4 0-0 10; Nikki Green 12 3-4 30; Dustie Obah 2 0-3 4; Totals: 29 10-17 75.
