Texan Mosaic

by DOMINICK PUENTE//Staff Writer

The South Plains College women’s basketball team has started the season on a high note, winning a pair of games in the opening week.

The Lady Texans opened the 2016-2017 season with an 81-68 loss to an impressive West Texas Drive basketball team on Nov. 2 at Texan Dome.

Starting guard Jasauen Beard, a sophomore transfer from Midwest City, Oklahoma, finished the game leading the Lady Texans with 21 points, six rebounds, five steals and one impressive block.

Returning offensive threat Elizabeth Cera, a Levelland product, was able to get open looks on the floor and finished the game with 13 points.

Turnovers proved to be a factor in the loss against the West Texas Drive, along with low field-goal percentage shots and attempts beyond three-point line.

In the SPC Classic, the Lady Texans pulled out two impressive victories against Trinidad State Junior College and Arizona Western College on Nov. 4-Nov. 5.

In a low-scoring game against Trinidad State Junior College, Yanina Inkina, Andrea Lloyd and Felicia Jackson managed to power through and finish as the top three scorers in a 57-41 victory.

The score was close throughout the first half. The Lady Texans finished the first quarter with 12 points, before adding 10 points in the second quarter.

SPC managed to find a way to halt the Trinidad offense in the second half, allowing only five points in the third quarter. The Lady Texans seized offensive control and put up 22 points to take a 44-29 lead at the end of the third quarter.

As the Lady Texans appeared to have an answer defensively for the Trinidad offense, the fourth quarter became another offensive shootout.

Both teams began to trade shots. However, the Lady Texans sank more shots at an efficient rate to pull out the victory.

Allowing only 12 points, the Lady Texans finished the game by scoring 13 points in the final quarter.

Llyod showed her athleticism and strength as she managed to get to the goal for 15 points, along with 11 rebounds.

Inkina worked the ball around the interior of the Trinidad defense, finishing with 13 points and five rebounds.

Jackson was able to show her range as she finished 4-for-5 inside the arch and established her outside shooting, finishing 2-for-3 from 3-point territory.

The Lady Texans had turnover troubles throughout the game with 19. But their defense proved to be too much for Trinidad, which committed 10 turnovers.

With good momentum coming from the victory, the Lady Texans gained their second victory of the season in a nail-biting 76-70 victory against Arizona Western College.

Offensively, the Lady Texans produced points when they were needed against a tough Arizona Western.

Their offense worked efficiently in the first quarter, scoring 26 points while holding Arizona Western to 18 points.

However, as the game continued, point production began to slow down in the second and third quarter, allowing Arizona Western to catch up to the Lady Texans until the very end.

The Lady Texans managed to outscore Arizona Western in the fourth quarter to keep a slight lead in the final seconds of the game.

Cera finished the game as the team’s leading scorer for the Lady Texans with 25 total points. Beard finished with 23 points, while Inkina added 11 points.

Debrasia Baty carried her team in the rebound category with 12 offensive rebounds to get the Lady Texans second chances on the offensive side of the ball.

The Lady Texans will be looking to keep their two-game winning streak alive and improve as they entertain College of the Southwest, Dallas Diesel, and Wayland Baptist JV in the SPC Classic, which was held Nov. 10-Nov. 12 at Texan Dome. Results were not available at press time.