#13 Lady Texans rout #20 North Dakota State College of Science, advance to Sweet 16 of NJCAA Women’s Basketball National Tournament

LUBBOCK — Celia Sumbane recorded a game-high 22 points and eight rebounds as the South Plains College women's basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NJCAA Women's Basketball National Tournament with a 65-42 rout of #20 North Dakota State College of Science Wednesday at the Rip Griffin Center.

South Plains will square off with #4 Northwest Florida State at 1 p.m. on Friday, a rematch from last season when the two teams met in the Elite Eight of the National Tournament.

"For the first game of the tournament, we might have been a little nervous at the beginning, but I thought we played well," South Plains head coach Ara Baten said. "I thought we played well defensively and had some good individual performances on defense. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way we played."

South Plains smothered the Wildcats on the defensive end, holding NDSCS to a season-low 42 points, forcing 10 turnovers in the contest resulting in 13 points on the offensive end. The Lady Texans won the battle on the glass 46-40, netting 28 points inside the paint and chipped in seven points on second-chance opportunities.

Sumbane finished 9 of 16 from the field while Viktoria Ivanova tallied 12 points and nine boards, dropping in 5 of 12 shots from the floor. Ashala Moseberry recorded nine points and six rebounds while Raija Todd finished with seven points, four assists, and three boards.

"We have some wings who play well on defense, and their point guard is outstanding, and I thought Viktoria did a great job one on one and stayed up with her," Baten said. "She forced her to take tough shots and we played better against the ball screen in the second half. We forced them to take tough shots and were able to hold them to just one shot for the most part."

South Plains shot 39.1 percent from the floor in the contest and 30.4 percent from distance, while forcing the Wildcats to shoot just 28.1 percent from the floor and 14.3 percent from the 3-point line.

"Celia Sumbane is a matchup problem for a lot of people, and I thought we were able to take advantage of that matchup tonight early," Baten said. "That kind of softened things up for our perimeter kids later, and I thought we played inside out as well as we have offensively."