The Temple College women's basketball faced their first of three rematch games this week on Tuesday, as the Leopards traveled to Beeville to take on Coastal Bend College.
When the teams met on Kirby Johnson Court on Nov. 4, the Leopards rolled Coastal, 83-44.
The Leopards established their presence early in Coastal's frigid Marecek Health and Physical Education Center, having scored the first 16 points of the game as they cruised to a 68-36 victory.
Gabby Edo scored the first two baskets of the night, the first on a beautiful in-lane feed from Korina Garcia and the second on an offensive rebound and second-chance opportunity.
Ranyiah Hunt scored the next baskets, one on a steal and a layup and the other on an offensive rebound and putback. Chyna Nixon scored her basket in the stretch on a hard press into the paint. Edo and Garcia each dropped a pair of free-throws through the cylinder, and Antronea Jackson hit a leaner in the lane to give Temple a 16-0 lead with three minutes left in the opening period.
Brianna Barnes hit the Cougars' first field goal with 2:45 left in the quarter.
Jackson, Hunt, and Daija Mitchell combined on Temple's 7-0 run through the final 2:28 of the quarter to give Temple a 23-2 lead after the opening ten minutes.
The Leopards extended the run to 13-4, through the opening 4:47 of the second quarter, as they increased the lead to 23, 29-6.
Temple continued a strong defensive presence, swatting at each shot and contesting passes. The Leopards led by 25 points at the half, 39-14.
TC continued to press on in the third quarter, as they outscored the Cougars in the third quarter, 18-14, and took a 29-point advantage into the fourth quarter.
The tempo slowed down in the fourth quarter, as TC head coach Amber Taylor was able to get her bench valuable minutes on the floor. Emori Lasalle, Ke'Myreul Wheaton, and Joemoriah Ben contributed down the stretch, with the Leopards stretching their lead to 32 before the final horn. Temple's defense held the Cougars off the board for the final 5:08.
The Leopards shot 18-of-29 from the free-throw line. Hunt had two of Temple's trio of three-pointers, and Lasalle had the third. Hunt led all scorers with 19 points, Jackson added 12 points, and Garcia and Mitchell each had eight points.
Coastal drilled a trio of three-pointers and went 7-of-14 from the charity stripe. Jayda Mitchell led the Cougars with 12 points.
Temple defense held Coastal in check all night, with scoreless droughts of 7:15 (first quarter) and 5:08 (fourth quarter) which went in concurrent
field goal droughts of 5:47 (end of first quarter, beginning of second) and 8:12 (fourth quarter).
The Leopards will host the Temple Classic on Friday and Saturday at Kirby Johnson Court. Odessa College and Angelina College tip off the tournament at 5 pm, followed by Tyler Junior College and Temple at 7 pm. On Saturday, Tyler takes on Odessa at Noon, followed by Temple and Angelina at 2 pm.