Lady Cardinals, Cardinals protect national rankings with home wins
(Post sponsored by Tinsley Law & Title, Holt Wrecker, R&R lawn specialists, Gibson Pharmacy)
By Benny Rogers/TVCC Sports Information
The Lady Cardinals and Cardinals protected their national rankings in doubleheader action Saturday afternoon at historic Cardinal Gym.
The eighth-ranked Lady Cardinals pulled away in the second half in non-conference action against Ranger, cruising to a 73-50 win.
The seventh-ranked Cardinals finished strong to subdue Blinn for an 81-73 decision in a battle of unbeaten Region XIV Conference teams.
Lady Cardinals 73, Ranger 50
After jumping out to a 12-0 lead and 24-11 advantage after one quarter, the Lady Cardinals had to fight off the upset-minded Lady Rangers. The Lady Cardinals led 37-26 at the half and 54-42 after three quarters. They outscored Ranger 19-8 in the fourth quarter.
Breanna Baxer paced the Lady Cardinals with 20 points. Lydie Mwamba finished with 17 and April Edwards had 13, including a pair of three-pointers.
The Lady Cardinals, who have won eight straight, improved to 10-2 with the win. Ranger dipped to 3-11.
The Lady Cardinals are scheduled to open conference play at home Wednesday against Blinn. Game time is 5:30 p.m. Saturday, they travel to Tyler for a 2 p.m. tipoff.
Cardinals 81, Blinn 73
The Cardinals outscored Blinn 14-7 in the final 3:48 to remain unbeaten in conference play at 4-0. They are 13-2 overall and riding a seven-game win streak.
The Cardinals led 35-33 at the half, were down 41-39 with 15:39 left in the game and tied 46-46 at the 11:56 mark.
Makhi Dorsey, who took over the game in the second half, led the Cardinals with 22 points. Ahamad Bynum had 18, Denim Johnson 14 and Mouhamed Mbaye 11. Mbaye came up big for the Cardinals in the closing minutes with two blocks and several clutch rebounds.
Blinn dropped to11-3 and 3-1 with the loss.
The Cardinals are scheduled to be on the road Wednesday, traveling to Beeville to play Coastal Bend at 6 p.m. They will be home Saturday against Victoria in a 4 p.m. start.
(Cardinal photos by Richard Hawkins. Lady Cardinal photos by Travis Tapley.)