Lady Texans rally by Howard in second half

January 7, 2014

LEVELLAND – Jasmine Brainard scored 19 of her game high 21 points in the second half and fellow sophomore starters Alexius Dawn and TaSheena Moore added 20 and 15 points each as the South Plains College Lady Texans overcame a double-digit deficit in the first half to defeat Howard College 71-64 Monday night at the Texan Dome.

The Lady Texans fell behind early and with just over a minute to go in the first half, faced a 10-point deficit, 31-21.

Dawn and Briana Brigham made back-to-back field goals and Dawn made two free throws to end the half with the Lady Texans going on a 6-2 run to cut Howard's lead to six as the two teams went to the locker room.

Trailing eight early in the second half, Brainard and Dawn pulled SPC right back into the contest.

Brainard – whose role was limited in the first half due to foul trouble – sandwiched a couple baskets around two field goals by Dawn to help the Lady Texans tie it up at 38 apiece thanks to an 8-0 scoring run.

The two teams would then battle over the next several minutes in which the game saw six more tie scores. With 4:42 remaining in the game, the score was all knotted up at 56. Brainard then helped the Lady Texans cap a 6-0 run with a put back off a missed 3 by Moore and the Lady Texans would not trail again as they led by as many as eight before settling for a seven point victory.

After being limited in the first half due to foul trouble, Brainard went on to play an efficient game, making 9-of-13 shots from the field while also hauling in 10 rebounds to record a double-double.

Dawn had a solid night from the foul line, making the Hawks pay making 10-of-11 shots when sent to the charity stripe.

The Lady Texans capture their third straight victory and move to 8-7 overall and 2-0 in conference play as they continue their quest to repeat as conference champions. SPC's next test will come Thursday in Hobbs, N.M. against last year's co-champion, New Mexico JC. Game time is set for 6:45 p.m. and live audio will be available on 1230 AM KLVT Radio. Fans can also access live video at www.spctexans.com.

Howard (9-8, 0-2)
LaTanya McMaryion 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Stinnett 5-16 0-0 11, Briana Casas 2-8 0-0 4, Gabby Gonzales 4-8 0-0 12, Jade Jones 3-6 1-2 7, Brianan Kentwell 2-3 0-0 4, Bailey Wipff 5-12 3-3 15, Jericka Smith 2-3 0-0 4, Erisha Talley 2-12 3-4 7. Totals 25-68 7-9 64

South Plains (8-7, 2-0)
Alexius Dawn 5-17 10-11 20, Desiree Cruz 0-1 0-0 0, Tasheena Moore 5-13 4-6 15, Briana Brigham 2-3 2-4 6, Ijeoma Nzekwe 2-3 1-2 5, Jasmine Brainard 9-13 3-4 21, Rafeegah Fataar 1-1 0-0 2, Rayvon Christian 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-52 20-27 71

SCORE BY PERIODS	1st	2nd	TOTAL
Howard	33	31	64
South Plains	27	44	71

FG%: Howard .368, South Plains .481. 3-pt FG:Howard 7-17 (Stinnett 1-4, Gonzales 4-6, Wipff 2-7), South Plains 1-10 (Dawn 0-4, Moore 1-6). Rebounds: Howard 27 (Talley 6), South Plains 38 (Moore 12). Fouls Howard 19, South Plains 15. Fouled out: Talley . Technical: none. Assists: Howard 10 (Casas 3), South Plains 12 (Moore 5). Steals: Howard 6 (Stinnett 2, Talley 2), South Plains 6 (Brigham 2, Brainard 2). Blocked shots: Howard 0, South Plains 1 (Brainard 1). Turnovers: Howard 8, South Plains 14.