LEVELLAND — Making their fourth consecutive trip to the NJCAA Women's Basketball National Tournament, the South Plains College women's basketball team will open the 24-team tournament on Wednesday, March 16 at 6 p.m.
The No. 13-seeded Lady Texans are set to square off with No. 20 North Dakota State College of Science at the Rip Griffin Center on the campus of Lubbock Christian University. All games will stream live at spctexans.com via the NJCAA Network. Fans can purchase a single-game streaming pass for $10, or can purchase a tournament pass for $30. The live stream link can be found here: https://www.njcaa.org/network/championships/wbkb-di
South Plains comes in as winners of eight of their last 10 games, including a 64-54 victory over Clarendon College in the Region V title game on March 5. Averaging 63.5 points per game, the Lady Texans are shooting 37.8 percent from the floor and 27.2 percent from distance on the year. Freshman Sumbane leads the Lady Texans on the offensive end, averaging 12 points per game, and has scored in double figures 19 times this season, including a career-high 21 points against Grayson College on Nov. 11.
With a record of 30-2 on the season and winners of 11 straight games, the Lady Wildcats are averaging 79.2 points per game and are shooting 45 percent from the floor this season. NDSCS is shooting 36.4 percent from the 3-point line on the year, led by freshman Ivane Tensaie. Averaging 20.9 points per game, Tensaie is shooting 42.3 percent from the floor and 42.5 percent from 3 on the year.
Should the Lady Texans win on Wednesday, they will await a matchup with No. 4 Northwest Florida State at 1 p.m. on March 18. South Plains and Northwest Florida met in the Elite Eight at the Women's National Tournament last season.