Lady Texans come up short against No. 19 Seward

The game was much closer than the final seven-point margin may indicate as the Lady Texans trailed by only a single point with just over one minute remaining in the contest.

South Plains (3-2) fell into an early hole in the first half, trailing by as many as eight points right around the midway point. 

With her team down 19-11, Brainard reeled off seven straight points to help South Plains pull to within one. 

Alexius Dawn found Brainard with a snazzy pass in the paint that she was able to convert with a layup, and then two minutes later, she shot down her third 3-point bucket of the year.  With just over eight minutes remaining in the half, Brainard swiped the ball out of the hands of Seward's Payton Fleming and, fittingly, completed the play with a reverse layup on the other end to get the Lady Texan back to within a point. 

South Plains tied the game for the first time at 20 apiece when Desiree Cruz found Rayvon Christian wide open in the paint for an easy basket.

The two teams then swapped a pair of scoring runs.  Seward took a six-point lead on a 7-1 run, but the Lady Texans answered with a 6-0 run that included a deep 3 by Briana Brigham.

Seward would take a 34-31 advantage to the locker room.

The two teams battled evenly for much of the second half, but the Lady Texans did take their first lead of the game, 50-49, thanks to a basket by Alexius Dawn with 7:09 left to play.

Moments later, Christian gave SPC what would be their largest lead of the game, 54-51, with a second chance bucket in the paint.

After Seward reclaimed the lead, TaSheena Moore took advantage of a fast break opportunity and with the clock winding down to its final minutes, the Lady Texans had a 58-57 lead.

Trailing by three points in the final minute, the Lady Texans still had a chance to upset the No. 19-ranked Lady Saints but Cruz missed a three and Brainard had a second chance opportunity blocked in the paint that gave Seward possession of the ball with 35 seconds left.

While trying to steal the ball, Dawn was caught reaching in and sent Seward's Brianna Scott to the line where she made both free throws to ultimately seal the Lady Texans fate.

Seward would go on to make two more free throws to win by seven.

The road does not get an easier for the Lady Texans as they face third-ranked Hutchinson Saturday at 2 p.m.  The Lady Dragons struggled in the first half against Fort Carson, but rebounded to defeat their Friday afternoon opponent 79-72.  Hutchinson is currently 5-0 on the year and is coming off a 36-2 season that resulted in a third place finish at last year's NJCAA tournament.

Live video of Saturday's game versus Hutchinson will be available at www.spctexans.com.

South Plains (3-2)
Alexius Dawn 5-25 4-4 16, Desiree Cruz 0-2 0-0 0, Tasheena Moore 6-13 1-2 13, Briana Brigham 1-2 0-0 3, Ijeoma Nzekwe 0-1 0-0 0, Jasmine Brainard 7-18 4-9 19, Rafeegah Fataar 0-3 0-0 0, Rayvon Christian 5-10 1-1 11. Totals 24-74 10-16 62

Seward County (4-0)
Alana Simon 3-6 0-0 6, Kyndal Davis 3-7 0-2 6, Korina Chapman 5-11 2-3 12, Fabiana Monte 4-7 7-7 17, Brianna Scott 4-7 2-2 10, Payton Fleming 2-8 2-3 6, Shanise Brooks 5-12 2-5 12, Janel Tammen 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 26-59 15-23 69

FG%: South Plains .324, Seward County .441. 3-pt FG:South Plains 4-26 (Dawn 2-15, Cruz 0-1, Moore 0-5, Brigham 1-1, Brainard 1-4), Seward County 2-11 (Davis 0-2, Chapman 0-3, Monte 2-3, Scott 0-1, Fleming 0-2). Rebounds: South Plains 37 (Brainard 8, Christian 8), Seward County 40 (Chapman 10). Fouls South Plains 19, Seward County 14. Fouled out: none. Technical: none. Assists: South Plains 12 (Dawn 5), Seward County 7 (Davis 3). Steals: South Plains 15 (Brainard 7), Seward County 6 (Scott 3). Blocked shots: South Plains 2 (Moore 1, Brainard 1), Seward County 7 (Brooks 3). Turnovers: South Plains 16, Seward County 20.