Four Lady Leopards scored in double figures in a victory they needed to stay in the mix for a postseason berth.
Jordyn Carter scored 12 of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter, when TC fought off the Highlassies' push. Keiarra Rivers added 16 points, Tiana Gardner posted 14 and Brooke Lopez 11 for TC (17-10, 7-6), which avenged an overtime loss to McLennan in the teams' first encounter Jan. 20.
The Highlassies (17-10, 7-6) whittled a 10-point deficit at the start of the fourth to five, 58-53, with 5:05 left. But, the Lady Leopards posted 12 of the game's final 14 points — including eight by Carter — for the 15-point nod that left an ear-to-ear smile on TC head coach Kim Sebek.
"We started strong and we finished strong, and we hadn't been able to do that in awhile. I'm just really proud of the players — all the credit to them. They played their hearts out and this was a big win," said Sebek, whose team held McLennan to 19-of-65 shooting. "This keeps our playoff hopes alive and it's just a good win against a good, well-coached team."
Jade Bradley had 13 points as the only McLennan player to reach double digits. Seynabou Thaim provided eight and Annya Moss seven.
TC trailed 10-5 midway through the opening quarter after Thiam's bucket in the post, then proceeded to ramp up its defense and outscore McLennan 19-4 during the remainder of the first for a 24-14 lead 10 minutes in.
The charge was fueled by a 15-0 run that featured three 3-pointers — one each from Lopez, Kassadie Sanders and Gardner — and a three-point play from Rivers, whose block on the defensive end spurred her length-of-the-floor sprint and contested layup that was part of her team-high nine points in the period.
Lopez's second of two 3s in the second quarter lifted TC to its largest lead of the first half, 35-19, and the Lady Leopards took a 40-29 cushion into halftime.
TC led 50-40 after the third. Moss' 3 brought McLennan within five for the first time in the fourth and Bradley's bucket made it 58-53, which was essentially the last time the Highlassies had a look at taking the lead.
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TC (23-4, 7-4) dialed up seven of its 10 3-pointers in the first half and didn't look back after going up for good 5 minutes into the contest.
Kedrian Johnson, who before the game was presented to the crowd as Temple's all-time leading scorer during head coach Kirby Johnson's 33-year tenure at the college, added a team-high 28 points to his career total that is now 1,457.
Hugo Florestedt made four 3s and finished with 16 points for the Leopards. Aleu Aleu chipped in 13, R.J. Mason 12 and Carlton Linguard 10.
Chris Pryor paced the Highlanders (16-10, 7-4), who thumped TC 84-64 last month. McLennan also got 16 points from Cameron Copeland and 14 from Rayquan Brown but was never closer than 10 after the 5-minute mark of the first half.
"Obviously, our game out there was our worst of the year, and (Kedrian) got a concussion in that game. And we just didn't play well. Part of that was (McLennan) and we knew were better than what we showed up there," Kirby Johnson said. "(Tonight), I thought we played well, we were efficient, except for the last 5 minutes. But, we were efficient. We had guys that made plays."
About the only downside in the Leopards' emphatic victory was a left-ankle injury suffered by Mason with 7:23 left in the second half.
TC was up by 24 at the time but was outscored 25-12 the rest of the way.
"Our problem is, we only had eight guys tonight and then R.J. goes down," Kirby Johnson said. "When he went down, I was just like, 'Man, can we not catch a break at all?' Hopefully, this is not too serious.
"But this is a big win because it puts us in better position for the playoffs."
TC next challenges Ranger on the road Wednesday then hosts Southwestern Christian College on Saturday for what will be soon-to-be retired Kirby Johnson's final home game.