No. 3 Lady Texans silence Weatherford 103-60 Thursday

ABILENE — Freshman Johanna Teder scored a career-high 26 points, 15 coming from behind the arc as the top-seeded South Plains College women's basketball team thwarted Weatherford College 103-60 Thursday in their opening-round matchup at the Region V Tournament at Moody Coliseum.

The Lady Texans improve to 30-1 on the season and advance to Friday's semifinal round where they will square off with conference foe Midland College at 5 p.m.

"I thought our energy was really high for the entire 40 minutes regardless of who was on the floor," South Plains head coach Cayla Petree said. "That's what it's going to take for us to make a deep run and continue to win games in March. No matter who we put on the floor today, there was no drop off regardless of what the score was. We played each possession like it was a game-winning possession, and that's something we are going to have to continue to do to keep winning."

Teder couldn't miss in the front half scoring 18 in the first 20 minutes as the Lady Texans shot 64.7 percent in the second quarter to take a 46-28 lead into the locker room at the break. South Plains would continue its onslaught in the back half with five players scoring in double figures.

"We listened to coach Petree and followed our scout and played at our pace," Teder said. "I think that was the key to the game, and we were aggressive and I think that helped decide the game. Every game is different and every game at this point is big, and this win means a lot to our team and gives us confidence as we continue to play."

Teder finished 10 of 15 from the field and 5 of 10 from distance while sophomore Asia McCoy scored 19 points and corralled five rebounds over 19 minutes. Sophomore guard Caroline Germond chipped in 14 points on 6 of 12 shooting to go along with four assists and four boards in 32 minutes.

Sophomore Ruth Koang totaled 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds and five blocked shots while Ka'Lia Smith had 10 points and 13 boards. South Plains shot 52.1 percent from the floor and 45 percent from the perimeter while holding the Lady Coyotes to a 31.9 percent clip from the field. South Plains had its way inside, outrebounding Weatherford 49-31 and scored 52 points inside the paint and 15 on second-chance opportunities.

"This is survive and advance, and nothing that we have done before now matters," Petree said. "We're trying to build momentum and become more efficient with our offense and keep everyone healthy and enjoy the ride. We're just trying to have fun and play basketball, and if we can do that we will be successful."