The Plainsman Press - South Plains College

Jerry Thomas, staff writer

No one said that the South Plains College Lady Texans’ plans to repeat as conference and NJCAA Region V champions would be easy.

South Plains is currently in second place, trailing the No. 3 ranked Odessa College Lady Wranglers by three games.

SPC defeated Howard College, 70-48 on Jan. 30. The Lady Texans were led by Dominic Seals, who contributed 23 points, nine rebounds, two blocks, and two steals. Fallon Thomas chipped in 16 points, while Brooke DeGrate poured in 12 points, and Alana Rumph scored 10. The Lady Texans held Howard to just 32 percent shooting from the field and forced 20 turnovers.

The Lady Texans then returned home on Feb. 2 to hold off New Mexico Junior College, 70-65. Seals led SPC with 18 points, eight rebounds and five steals. Alex Velazquez chipped in 14 points, while DeGrate and Thomas both scored 13. Rumph scored 10 points and added seven rebounds. The Lady Texans shot 45 percent from the field while forcing 27 turnovers by the Lady Thunderbirds.

South Plains then had to come from behind in dramatic fashion to defeat the Midland College Lady Chaparrals, 57-51 in overtime. The Lady Texans trailed by eight points with 4:27 left in the game, but SPC went on a 8-0 run to force a tie with 3-pointers by Thomas and Roni Gomez, and a bucket by Seals. In overtime the Lady Texans scored the first eight points of the period to hold on for the win. Seals, who was held scoreless in the first half, scored 14 points to lead the Lady Texans. Thomas, who was one rebound shy of a triple double, scored 13 points and had 11 steals. Rumph added 12 points, and Gomez and Velazquez each scored six points.

On Feb. 9, the Lady Texans fell to Odessa College, 76-53 on the road. SPC managed to make only four field goals in the first half and finished with a season-low shooting percentage of 26.8 percent. Odessa remains in first place in WJCCA play with a 7-0 record. Seals, the lone player to score in double figures, led the Lady Texans with 18 points and 17 rebounds. DeGrate added nine points, Gomez and Thomas each added eight points, while Erica Knight scored four points, and Velazquez rounded out the scoring with one point.

SPC is ranked No. 16 nationally in team defense, which will be key for a repeat performance of last year. Thomas has fueled the defensive output with 20 steals in the last four games.

“I credit my teammates for the off-the-ball defense, plus myself taking advantage of my long arms tends to help,” Thomas said.

Thomas, is also 47 assists away from the school record held by Sheryl Swoopes. Her play, along with Seals, DeGrate, and Rumph, could help the Lady Texans repeat as Region V champions.

Seals, who has led SPC in scoring every game in WJCAC play, is averaging 19.3 points per game. The 6-foot-2 freshman believes there are certain areas the Lady Texans must improve on to be successful down the stretch.

“We need to keep playing with more intensity, and dominate at all positions,” Seals said. “Our goal is to repeat as Region V champions and to go as far as we can in the National Tournament”.

SPC finished last season with an overall record of 31-4 and placed fourth at the NJCAA National Tournament.