ABILENE — The No. 3-ranked South Plains College women's basketball team rallied in the final minutes of Friday's Region V semifinal matchup against No. 19 Odessa, but a 14-point fourth quarter deficit proved too much as they fell to the Lady Wranglers 72-63 at Moody Coliseum.
The Lady Texans close out the season with one of the top records in the country at 28-4 after compiling one of the most successful regular seasons in program history, earning a No. 1 national ranking for the first time ever. The Lady Texans will now await selection Monday when they look to secure one of eight at-large bids to the NJCAA Women's Basketball National Tournament March 18-23 at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock.
Trailing 52-38 heading into the final stint, sophomore Gabbie Green brought the Lady Texans within nine, 62-53 with a runner from five feet with 2:40 to go. South Plains would continue to push the rock down the stretch as freshman Romola Dominguez dropped in a 3 from the top of the key with 32 ticks left, cutting Odessa's lead to just four, 65-61.
Dominguez would immediately foul Odessa's Yanina Todorova, sending the freshman from Bulgaria to the free throw line with 22 seconds to play. Todorova would hit on both free throws, pushing the Lady Wranglers back up six, 67-61 which would prove to be enough as the Odessa closed out the contest in the final seconds.
Green finished with 19 points, six rebounds, and four assists over 39 minutes as the Lady Texans shot 39.7 percent from the field. Keke Hunter recorded her 19th double-double of the season, dropping in 18 points and snagged 12 boards in 35 minutes of play.
Odessa's Kamryn Lemon led all scorers with 26 points, sinking 7 of 11 shots from the floor and was 11-for-12 from the charity stripe. Amanda Soderqvist finished with 23 points and four rebounds while Julan McDonald chipped in 12 points and five boards.