(March 2, 2012) -- The McLennan Highlassies punched their ticket to the Region V tournament with a 47-46 win over the Collin Lady Cougars tonight in Weatherford.

Collin built a eight-point lead midway through the first half at 8-16. MCC rallied, cutting the lead to one with 8:21 remaining in the half. Collin extended the lead to seven down the stretch and held the 27-22 advantage at the break.

The Lady Cougars extended the lead to nine early in the second half but the Highlassies weren't done. MCC rallied to tie the game at 38 with 9:59 to play in the game. The Highlassies took their first lead of the game at 44-43 with 4:56 on the clock. MCC's Taylor Collier went 1-2 from the free throw line with 15.7 seconds to extend the lead to two. Sammatha Orford had a chance to tie the game with a one-and-one bonus situation with 7.1 seconds remaining. Offord drained the first shot but the second shot bounced off the back of the iron. Sondra Flippin secured the rebound for MCC but was called for a travel with 3.1 seconds on the clock. Jasmine Evans stole the inbound pass and was fouled with 0.6 of a second to go, but she missed both bonus shots. Collin attempted a long inbound pass but Evans snagged it out of the air to seal the win.

Briah Blakely led the Highlassies with 21 points and Taylor Collier added 10.

MCC will open the regional tournament against top-seeded New Mexico Junior College at 7 p.m. on Friday at Lubbock Christian University.