Lady Texans secure at-large bid to NJCAA Women's Basketball National Tournament

LEVELLAND — The NJCAA announced the 24-team field for the NJCAA Women's Basketball National Tournament on Monday, which saw the Lady Texans earn a No. 10 national seed and a first-round matchup with the No. 23 seed, Harford College.

South Plains will make their national tournament debut against the Owls on Monday, Match 18 at 4 p.m. at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock on the campus of Lubbock Christian University. This will be the Lady Texans second appearance at the national tournament in the last three seasons after receiving one of eight at-large bids to the tournament.

The NJCAA Women's Basketball National Tournament will air live on NJCAA TV (njcaatv.com), except for the championship game, which will be aired live on the CBS Sports Network.

Led by fourth-year head coach Cayla Petree, the Lady Texans amassed a 28-4 record and were co-champions of the Western Junior College Athletic Conference after a 12-2 run in league play. Averaging 78.6 points and shooting 48. 1 percent from the floor, the third-best clip in the country, South Plains is led by the WJCAC and Region V Player of the Year Gabbie Green who comes in averaging 14. 8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.

Green has scored in double figures 22 times this season including a career-high 34 points on Jan. 31 against conference foe Midland College at the Chaparral Center. The Lady Texans will also rely upon Keke Hunter, a six-foot sophomore from Hot Springs, Arkansas who leads the team in scoring with 14.9 points per game. Shooting a team-high 59.3 percent from the field, Hunter has recorded 19 double-doubles this season and ranks 12^th nationally with 330 total rebounds.

Harford earned a No. 23 national seed after winning District C with a 69-62 victory over Monroe College on March 8. The Owls are 31-1 on the year and winners of 17 straight. Harford as been solid away from home amassing a 10-0 record in true road games and are 9-1 at neutral sites.

Averaging 92.4 points per game and shooting a 42.4 percent clip from the field, the Owls are led by sophomore forward Dahnye Redd who leads the team in scoring with 22.3 points per game, shooting 56.1 percent from the field on the year. Redd ranks first in the country with 13.9 boards per game and leads the country with 445 total rebounds.

With a victory over the Owls, the Lady Texans will await a matchup with No. 7 Seward College on Wednesday at noon.

Full Bracket: https://d2o2figo6ddd0g.cloudfront.net/q/e/pvlp6qvsgi3mek/2018-19_DI_WBB_Champ_-_Bracket_-_First_Round.pdf