MIDLAND — The third-ranked South Plains College women's basketball team used a stellar defensive effort to outlast No. 20 Midland College 50-45 Thursday at the Al G. Langford Chaparral Center.

The Lady Texans improve to 27-1 on the season and 11-1 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference and will return home on Monday night to take on Frank Phillips College at 5:45 p.m. at the Texan Dome.

Sophomore Caroline Germond led the Lady Texans on the offensive end with 15 points, five rebounds and handed out three assists as the 5-foot-6 guard from France finished 6 of 11 from the floor and was 2 of 3 from distance over 34 minutes. Freshman Ka'Lia Smith dropped in 14 points coming off the bench for South Plains, bucketing 7 of 10 shots from the floor to go along with five rebounds, three coming on the offensive end.

South Plains shot 39.2 percent from the field and tallied 13 points on 12 forced turnovers from Midland. The Lady Texans won the battle in the paint, netting 18 points inside while holding their counterpart to 10 points in the interior. The Lady Texans received 21 points from their bench and scored 16 points on second-chance opportunities.

Nyaduoth Lok led Midland with 12 points on 5 of 13 shooting while Grace Beasley had 11 points and six boards over 32 minutes as the Lady Chaparrals finished 27.6 percent from the floor and 24.1 percent from distance. Makayla Escue finished with seven points for Midland while Da'siah Thornton had six and Ella Tofaeono had four points and 12 rebounds.