No. 1 Lady Texans, No. 5 Texans travel to Midland Thursday

LEVELLAND — The South Plains College men's and women's basketball teams will be on the road Thursday to take on Midland College in a pair of conference matchups at the Chaparral Center.

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 and Michael Wiiest of KLVT Radio Levelland will call the courtside action with pregame slated for 5:30 p.m.

The No. 1-ranked Lady Texans defeated No. 22 Midland 67-62 on Nov. 28 in their previous matchup in Levelland, led by sophomore Keke Hunter who netted 15 points and 12 rebounds against the Lady Chaps.

South Plains' Sarah Shematsi racked up 18 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists while Hunter finished 5 of 7 from the floor and also recorded a team-high seven assists. Gabbie Green bucketed seven points, two boards and two assists and Chantel Govan provided six points coming off the bench for the Lady Texans.

Riding a 19 game win streak and sitting atop the WJCAC with a 7-0 mark, South Plains will look to slow down a Midland team who has won eight of their last nine heading into Thursday night, their sole loss coming at No. 16 New Mexico Junior College Monday night. Averaging just over 70 points per game, the Lady Chaps are 16-4 on the year and 5-2 in league play.

Ranked fifth in the latest national poll, the Texans look to stop a two-game skid in league play and pick up a conference road win come Thursday. In their first matchup with Midland at the Texan Dome, South Plains hammered the Chaparrals 78-58 behind Chris Orlina's 18-point performance.

Orlina finished 7 of 8 from the field and 3 of 5 from the 3-point line to go along with six boards, four assists and three steals in 29 minutes. Sophomore Gaige Prim netted 12 points for South Plains, sinking 5 of 10 attempts and also hauled in nine rebounds and dished out three assists. Jonah Antonio drained a pair of 3s as the 6-foot-5 sharpshooter from Australia tallied nine points against Midland.

The Chaparrals will be looking for their biggest win of the year, currently 7-14 on the season and just 2-6 in league play. Averaging just over 63 points per game and shooting 46 percent from the floor, Midland has lost four of last five games, most recently a 63-54 defeat against New Mexico Junior College on Monday night.

Following Thursday's games, South Plains will return home to the Texan Dome on Monday night to take on Frank Phillips College on 'Think Pink' night at the Texan Dome, sponsored by Covenant Hospital of Levelland.

Fans are encouraged to wear pink in honor of breast cancer awareness month. Think Pink breast cancer awareness shirts are currently available for purchase in the athletics office for $12. Monday is also Homecoming Night at the Texan Dome. The 2019 Homecoming ceremony will be held at halftime of the men's game.