Lady Texans face Cisco College in first round of Region 5 tournament

Posted: Mar 02, 2011
LEVELLAND, Texas - The South Plains College Lady Texans (19-8, 8-4) enter the 2011 Region 5 tournament as the No. 3 seed from the Western Junior College Athletic Conference (WJCAC) and will face Cisco College (24-6, 14-2), the No. 2 seed from the North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference (NTJCAC) in the first round. Game time is set for 2 p.m. at the Rip Griffin Center on the campus of Lubbock Christian University.

South Plains tied with Odessa College in the standings but took the third seed as the Lady Wranglers owned the tie breaker. The Lady Texans enter the tournament on a three game winning streak, but face a tough test in the opening round.

After dropping four of their first six games of the season, the Lady Wranglers put together a 12 game winning streak that included wins over Odessa and No. 11 ranked Midland College.

Cisco hit two roadblocks during conference play, a 64-54 setback at No. 12 ranked Grayson College (27-3, 15-1) and an 86-75 loss to Weatherford. Cisco then went undefeated during the month of February, defeating NTJCAC champion Grayson along the way, and enter the tournament on an eight game winning streak.

Although Cisco has more depth than South Plains down low, they will have to deal withKelsey Canavan, a 6 foot, 1 inch post who is riding a streak of 14 consecutive double-doubles and has 32 during her Lady Texan career.

Lady Texan head coach Michelle Wyatt likes her team's chances.

"I think we match-up well with them," says the sixth year head coach. "I watched them play Saturday and they are similar to Odessa and Midland as far as their depth and how they will probably run 10 or 11 athletes in and out of the game.

"They are bigger than us, but it is nothing we have not seen before. They do not have anyone who stands 6-4." Wyatt added, "The team who controls the game and plays their pace will be the team who wins."

If South Plains can knock off the Lady Wranglers they will enjoy an off day Friday before facing the winner between Weatherford and Midland at 12 p.m. Saturday.

A live video stream for the game can be accessed at www.psblive.com. Locally, HPRN's Michael Wiiest will call the courtside action on KLVT 1230 AM.