SPC Women Knock Off No. 1 Odessa

LEVELLAND – Saturday's championship game of the WJCAC Pre-Conference Tournament featured six of the top junior college sophomores in the nation, but it was a freshman that stole the show as No. 4 ranked South Plains College defeated No. 1 Odessa College 67-61 at the Texan Dome in Levelland.

SPC freshman wing Ashlee Roberson scored 21 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the Lady Texans to the win and a record of 11-0.

Five players from the two teams have already signed with four-year schools. For SPC, Dominic Seals and Alana Rumph both signed with Texas Tech. For Odessa, Juanita Ward and Chandrea Jones signed with Syracuse, while Tamara Rogers signed with Morgan State. Two other Odessa players, Dina Piterniece and Ladesha Stoudemire, are both being recruited by several Division I schools.

But even with all that talent on the floor, it was Roberson who might have made the biggest impression on fans, scoring 16 of her 21 points in the second half to help the Lady Texans rally for the win.

The lead changed hands six times in the first half. Odessa raced out to an early 9-4 lead, but SPC used the inside game of Seals and Brittany Blackmon to go up by 10 (25-15). Seals and Blackmon both had 10 points in the first half as the Lady Texans took a 31-23 lead into halftime.

South Plains extended their lead to 11 (48-37) with 11:49 remaining in the game, but Odessa went on a 12-0 run to go ahead 49-48 with 7 minutes left. The Lady Texans answered that run with a 6-0 rally to retake the lead. Odessa pulled within 3 with 2:44 remaining, but Rumph hit four free throws in the final minute to seal the win for SPC.

In addition to Roberson's 21 points, Seals and Blackmon both finished with 14, Rumph added 12, Mariame Djouara scored 4, and Ashley Frazier had 2.

For Odessa, Jones led the way with 27 points and 12 rebounds, Ward scored 13 and Piterneice added 9.

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