No. 16 Lady Texans fall to Frank Phillips 68-58 Saturday at the Texan Dome

LEVELLAND — The No. 16 South Plains College women's basketball team fell to Frank Phillips College 68-58 on Saturday at the Texan Dome.

The two teams lit up the stat sheet in the front half combing for 68 points as both teams shot nearly 42 percent from the floor. La'Praisjah Johnson scored 10 of her 13 in the first half and was 4 of 7 from the field. Kiara Shoals and Marlene Aniambossou combined for 23 points before the break as the two teams ended the first half deadlocked at 34. 

Trading buckets to begin the second half, Johnson put the Lady Texans (10-3, 0-2) up four with a pair of free throws with 2:35 to play in the third quarter. Frank Phillips answered with a 6-0 capped by a Shoals runner off the glass with 25 seconds left in the third to put the Lady Plainsmen up 45-43.

Frank Phillips wouldn't trail again and went on to lead by as much as 11 in the final quarter, outscoring the Lady Texans 23-15 in the fourth. Aniambossou led all scorers with 21 points and 10 boards, knocking down 8 of 10 shots from the floor in 31 minutes. 

Shoals tallied 18 points, seven boards and three assists for Frank Phillips (9-1, 2-0) and Perrine Manoury chipped in 14 points and was 3-for-5 from 3. The Lady Plainsmen shot 43 percent from the floor despite committing 17 turnovers in the contest.

Chantel Govan finished with 13 points on 5 of 12 shooting for the Lady Texans while Gabbie Green chipped in eight points and Mikayla Kuehne inked five points and grabbed eight boards. South Plains shot just 36 percent from the floor and was 1 of 13 from the perimeter.

"We can talk about things not falling our way, but luck and the way the ball bounces doesn't matter if you're playing hard and competing," South Plains head coach Cayla Petree said. "We can not expect to make the same mistakes over and over and expect to win. Unfortunately, we have yet to make the transition to college basketball in which you have to compete and execute for a full 40 minutes. Until we correct those things, we will not be able to move forward."

South Plains will return to the hardwood following the Christmas break when they travel to Scottsdale, Arizona for a four-game stint on Dec. 28 – Dec. 31.