Lady Texans Rout Clarendon Thursday Night

CLARENDON— The South Plains College Lady Texans routed the Clarendon Lady Bulldogs 81-52 on Thursday night at the Bulldog Gymnasium to remain in the hunt for a regional berth with one game remaining.

Yanina Inkina led all scorers in the contest with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting and also hauled in six rebounds. Ugochinyere Nwarie finished with 15 points and seven boards for South Plains, (19-10, 7-6) while Ramiah Henry and Dabraisia Baty each had 10.

"We really wanted this win because we want to go to the next level," Inkina said. "We played with patience and effort and scored a lot of points, and we all really wanted to win this game. "We need to keep working and listening to our coach if we want to win the next one, and I think and I hope we will show good results if we do that."

Clarendon jumped out to a 15-8 lead after one quarter, but the Lady Texans would answer back with a 35-9 run of their own to end the first half. South Plains shot 39 percent from the floor in the contest while holding the Lady Bulldogs to a 20 percent shooting percentage over 40 minutes.

Second chances were at a premium for the Lady Texans, as they dominated on the glass and hauled in 47 rebounds to the Lady Bulldogs 31. South Plains forced 20 turnovers in the contest, resulting in 17 points on the offensive end.

"Anytime you can win in this conference, especially on the road, it's a good thing," South Plains head coach Cayla Petree said. "We got off to a sluggish start, I think we were down seven, and we finished the first half on a 35-9 run, and that's a credit to our players. I thought we did a really good job tonight sharing the basketball against their two-three zone."

The Lady Texans continued to have their way with the Lady Bulldogs in the second half, as they went on to lead by as much as 29 points late in the fourth quarter. South Plains finished the contest with 44 points inside the paint, which turned out to be crucial as the game progressed.

With Thursday night's victory, the Lady Texans now sit in fourth place in the WJCAC after Howard College fell to Odessa on Thursday night. South Plains will now travel to Snyder for a matchup with Western Texas College on February 25, with tipoff set for 5:45 p.m.

"Now it's time to go back and refresh our legs, and just get ready for Western Texas," Petree said. "We're still in the hunt for the playoffs, and we got one step closer tonight, and that's a good feeling."