Lady Texans hand Odessa first conference loss

The Lady Texans (11-9, 5-2 WJCAC) have rebounded to win two straight since dropping a contest in Borger last Monday and are only a game behind New Mexico and a half game back of Odessa for the lead in the conference standings as SPC wraps up the first half of conference play with a bye date scheduled for Thursday.

The two teams fought back and forth for much of the first half that was plagued by turnovers.  With just under four minutes to go in the half the two teams were tied up at 21.

Odessa (15-5, 5-1) would go on a 9-2 scoring run to close out the half and head to the locker room with a seven point lead, 30-23.  South Plains and Odessa combined for 27 turnovers in the first half, with the Lady Texans responsible for 14.

Bailey Holland would hit a 3 to open the second half for the Lady Wranglers, but SPC fought their way right back into what turned out to be a contest that would go down to the wire.

Dawn immediately answered Odessa's 3 with one of her own.  Following a goal by Odessa's Morgan Holly, Brainard would go on to outscore Odessa 7-2 during a two minute span that got the Lady Texans back to within three.

A bucket by Moore just past the 12-minute mark and the Lady Texans were within one as the game approached its final 10 minutes.

Trailing by four and with the game entering its later stages, Dawn made a couple free throws and moments later gave the Lady Texans their first lead since the two minute mark of the second half with a 3-point goal that would set the stage for an exciting finish.

Trailing by a point, Rafeegah Fataar put back a miss by Dawn who went on to feed Ijeoma Nzekwe on the Lady Texans' next possession for a three-point lead.

Back-to-back baskets by Odessa gave the Lady Wranglers their final lead of the ball game.

Fataar made another basket in the paint to retake the lead and Moore followed that with a two-of-two trip to the line.

Dawn made it a two-possession game, 52-48, with the clock showing less than a minute to play.

It appeared that Moore had sealed the deal with two more free throws with only eight seconds left that gave the Lady Texans 56-52.

Odessa's Amber Davis pushed the ball in for a layup and Dawn was caught reaching in and, suddenly, Odessa trailed by only one.

There was not enough time remaining on the clock for Odessa to pull off a miracle as Dawn was able to run a little time off the clock before being fouled and sinking two more free throws, leaving Odessa with a full-court heave at the buzzer that missed its mark.

The Lady Texans return to action on Monday, Feb. 3, when they travel to Snyder for a matchup with Western Texas College at 5:45 p.m. 

Western Texas (6-12, 1-6) lost to Howard 72-60 and are currently in last place in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference standings.

WJCAC Scores:  South Plains 58, Odessa 55; Howard 72, Western Texas 60; New Mexico 79, Clarendon 60

South Plains (11-9, 5-2)
Alexius Dawn 5-14 6-10 18, Tasheena Moore 3-11 6-6 12, Briana Brigham 0-3 1-2 1,Ijeoma Nzekwe 2-3 1-2 5, Jasmine Brainard 6-15 4-6 16, Rafeegah Fataar 2-2 2-4 6. Totals 18-48 20-30 58

Odessa (15-5, 5-1)
Terriah Cooper 0-0 0-0 0, Amber Davis 3-10 5-5 11, Bailey Holland 1-11 0-0 3, Morgan Holly 6-11 2-6 14, Talayiah Rich 0-5 0-0 0, Anushka Maldonado 1-1 0-0 2, Sera Ozelci 0-3 0-0 0, Octavian Reedy 4-8 0-2 9, Kylie Rodriguez 1-1 0-0 2, Shanna Taylor 0-1 0-0 0, Kiera Waters 3-9 0-1 7, Angelica Weaver 3-4 1-3 7, Manesha Womble 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-65 8-17 55

FG%: South Plains .375, Odessa .338. 3-pt FG:South Plains 2-9 (Dawn 2-5, Brigham 0-2, Brainard 0-2), Odessa 3-19 (Davis 0-3, Holland 1-6, Rich 0-1, Reedy 1-2, Taylor 0-1, Waters 1-5, Womble 0-1). Rebounds: South Plains 39 (Moore 9, Brainard 9), Odessa 37 (Holly 8). Fouls South Plains 17, Odessa 22. Fouled out: none. Technical: none. Assists: South Plains 8 (Dawn 6), Odessa 6 (Weaver 2). Steals: South Plains 9 (Brainard 4), Odessa 10 (Holland 4). Blocked shots: South Plains 5 (Moore 2, Brainard 2), Odessa 4 (Holly 2, Maldonado 2). Turnovers: South Plains 20, Odessa 19