Lady Texans have hopes dashed

by Caroline Basile, sports editor

            Despite winning a conference championship, the South Plains College Lady Texans ended a remarkable season with a loss to the Odessa College Lady Wranglers in the Region V Tournament championship game.

            With the 66-62 loss, the Lady Texans ended the season with a 31-2 record.  The 31 victories tied a school record for the Lady Texans.  SPC suffered their only losses this season to the Lady Wranglers, who made the trip to Salina, Kansas for the second consecutive season.

            Odessa College used a suffocating zone defense to limit the Lady Texans to just 20 first-half points.  Things didn’t get any better for SPC after two of their key starters, Dominic Seals and Brittany Blackmon both suffered head injuries.  SPC trailed 36-20 after shooting only 30 percent from the field during the first half.

            The Lady Texans would get as close as three points in the second half, but that would be the closest they would get to the lead.

            “ You know it’s real frustrating that our season ended not the way we wanted it to,” Seals said. “But I really feel like we laid a good foundation for next year, and this team will continue to do great things.  I’ve had eight losses in my career here, and six of them have been to Odessa College.”

            “They are a great team.  I wish them luck.”

            Ashlee Roberson led SPC with 18 points, while Blackmon and Mariame Djouara each added 12.  Seals and Alana Rumph finished their last game as Lady Texans with nine and eight points, respectively.

            In the semifinal game of the Region V Tournament, SPC defeated Weatherford College, 91-64, on March 10.  The Lady Texans received a season-high 25 points and 12 rebounds from Seals.  Roberson chipped in 23 points and seven boards, while Djouara and Blackmon contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively.  The win matched the school record for victories in a season with 31.

            In the opening-round game of the Region V Tourney March 8, SPC needed a jumper from Ashley Frazier with half a second remaining to lift the third-ranked Lady Texans to a 60-56 victory against McLennan Community College. 

With the game tied at 56 with eight seconds left, Frazier received the inbound pass and drove the length of the floor before pulling up for a 15-foot jumper from the right wing.  With only 0.5 seconds remaining, McLennan tried to call a timeout, and a scene reminiscent of the 1993 NCAA Men’s National Championship ensued.  The Highlassies were already out of timeouts, so they received a technical foul.  Seals then hit both free throws for the final margin of victory. 

The Lady Texans struggled with shooting for most of the game and trailed for the majority of the contest.  Blackmon led SPC with 14 points, while Roberson added 12 and Seals and Djouara each had 10.

            The Lady Texans wrapped up the Western Junior College Athletic Conference Co-Championship with a 62-43 win against New Mexico Junior College on March 1.  SPC jumped out to a quick 15-5 lead and never trailed for the rest of the game.  Seals finished with 23 points and 19 rebounds, and Ashlee Roberson added 14 points and 10 rebounds. 

            Seals and Rumph will continue their careers at Texas Tech University next year playing for the Lady Raiders and Coach Kristy Curry.