WJCAC Basketball Spotlight: South Plains travels to Western Texas Monday night

LEVELLAND — The South Plains College men's and women's basketball teams return to conference action Monday night when they square off with Western Texas College in Snyder.

The Lady Texans will tip at 5:45 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30. Both games will be streaming live at spctexans.com as Michael Wiiest of KLVT Radio Levelland will call the courtside action, with pregame slated for 5:30 p.m.

The Texans enter Monday with an 18-7 record including a 10-3 mark in the WJCAC. South Plains has won four of it's last five, most recently an 83-74 victory over New Mexico Junior College on Feb. 15 at the Dome in which the Texans overcame a 12-point halftime deficit.

In their first meeting with the Westerners on Jan. 18 in Levelland, South Plains bested Western Texas 78-76 as Deshawn Corprew set a pair of career highs with 27 points over 32 minutes, knocking down 7 of 10 attempts from the floor and was 4-for-5 from the perimeter. Ben Perez finished with 13 points in 25 minutes and Isaiah Maurice netted 12 points and three boards.

Averaging just 68.9 points per game, Western Texas is 13-2 on the year and 2-10 in the WJCAC, as they have lost 10 straight in conference play. Shooting 47.1 percent from the field on the year, freshman Nigei Allen leads the Westerners in scoring with 13.3 points and 3.1 assists per game. Freshman Miles McDougal and sophomore Demarcus Hartfield each average over 10 points per game as Western Texas looks to pick up its first win since Jan. 8.

Sitting at 15-12 on the year and 2-9 in the WJCAC, the Lady Texans will look to return to the win column Monday night. South Plains carried fourth-ranked New Mexico Junior College into uncharted territory on Feb. 15 at the Texan Dome as South Plains led 25-24 at the midway points. New Mexico would eventually pull away midway through the second half after shooting just 28 percent over the first 20 minutes.

South Plains outdueled the Lady Westerners in their first meeting on Jan. 18 at the Dome as La'Praisjah Johnson netted 14 points and 11 boards, sinking 4 of 7 shots from the floor and was 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Freshman Chantel Govan bucketed 14 points to go along with six rebounds and two steals. Christina Baker tallied 10 points of 5 of 7 shooting from the floor and Gabbie Green chipped in six points and grabbed four boards.

Western Texas comes into the contest looking to stop a seven-game losing streak. The Lady Westerns are 11-3 on the year and 3-8 in the WJCAC, with their last win coming at home against Odessa on Jan. 15. In their previous meeting with the Lady Texans, Carara Samuel led Western Texas with a team-high 12 points over 27 minutes. Kyra Lewis netted 11 points and grabbed four rebounds while Allison Valdez chipped in six and Avery Gregory tallied five.

Following Monday's contest, South Plains will return to the hardwood on Feb. 26 when they take on Clarendon College in Clarendon.