Odessa Ends Lady Texans' Season

BELTON - The South Plains College Lady Texans' season came to an end Sunday with a 66-62 loss to Odessa College in the championship game of the Region V Tournament in Belton.

SPC finished with a record of 31-2. The 31 wins matched the most in Lady Texan history. Odessa will advance to the NJCAA National Tournament in Salina, Kan.

Odessa used a suffocating zone defense to hold the Lady Texans to just 20 points in the first half. Things were rough in the first half as both Brittany Blackmon and Dominic Seals had to leave the game with head injuries. SPC shot only 30 percent in the first half as Odessa led by as many as 20 (36-16). SPC scored the final 4 points of the first half to trail 36-20 at halftime.

The Lady Texans continued their strong play in the second half as Blackmon returned to the game and scored the first two points. Alana Rumph followed with two field goals as SPC cut the deficit to 10. Odessa quickly got their lead back to 13 (43-30), but the Lady Texans were able to come back and get within 3 with 4:45 remaining in the game on a 3-pointer by Ashley Frazier. The Lady Wranglers went back up by 7, but again SPC made a run to get within 3 on a 3-pointer by Ashlee Roberson with 17 second remaining. That would turn out to be as close as they could get as Odessa made a free throw for the final margin.

For South Plains, Roberson finished with 18 points, Blackmon and Mariame Djouara each had 12, Seals added 9, Rumph scored 8 and Frazier added 3.

For Odessa, Juanita Ward scored 20 and Chandrea Jones had 18.

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