WJCAC Basketball Spotlight: South Plains hosts Midland Thursday on Think Pink night at the Texan Dome

LEVELLAND — The South Plains College men's and women's basketball teams will return to the hardwood on Thursday when they host Midland College on 'Think Pink' night at the Texan Dome. Fans are encouraged to wear pink as Covenant Hospital of Levelland will be sponsoring the game for breast cancer awareness.

The Lady Texans will tipoff at 5:45 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30. Both games will be streaming live at spctexans.com.

In their first meeting on Nov. 29 in Midland, the Lady Chaparrals escaped with a 58-55 win at the Al G. Langford Chaparral Center. Freshman Gabbie Green scored a team-high 15 points on 6 of 16 shooting to go along with three steals and three rebounds coming off the bench for South Plains. Midland's Alexandrea Washington led all scorers with 22 points including six 3s and seven rebounds.

South Plains comes into Thursday night with a 14-9 record and are 1-6 in the WJCAC, averaging 66.3 points per game and shooting 41.9 percent on the year. Freshman Mikayla Kuehne leads the orange and blue with 11 points per game, shooting 41.6 percent from the floor and 40.2 percent from 3. Gabbie Green ranks second in scoring for the Lady Texans, averaging 10.8 points per game, shooting 39.4 percent from the field and has scored in double digits 12 times this season.

Midland brings an overall record of 11-9 including a 4-3 mark in the WJCAC into Thursday's contest. Averaging 63.9 points per game, Midland is led by Washington who leads the team in scoring averaging with 13.3 points per game. Sophomore Bianca Thacker ranks second on the team with 11.8 points per game and has scored in double digits five times on the year, including a 22-point outing on Jan. 25 against Howard.

The Texans are 14-6 on the year and bring a 6-2 conference record into Thursday night. South Plains fell to eighth-ranked Odessa College 95-80 on Monday night in Odessa, but have won five of their last seven including a 70-60 victory over the Chaparrals on Nov. 29. The Texans average 79.4 points per game and 78 points per game in conference play, shooting 50.4 percent from the field in WJCAC play. Sophomore Raymond has scored in double digits in seven of the last eight games including a 16 point, 11 rebound performance against the Wranglers Monday night.

Midland is led by sophomore Marquell Fraser who is averaging 17 points per game and shooting 60.7 percent from the floor. The Chaparrals are 7-15 on the year and 3-5 in the WJCAC, but have won two of their last three including a 76-64 victory over New Mexico Junior College on Monday. Midland is averaging 59.5 points per game, shooting 46.9 percent from the field and just 35.7 percent from the perimeter. Freshman Kevin Kangu is second on the team with 13.4 points per game, while Amari Hale and Kayo Goncalves are each averaging 11.5 points per game.