Four Lady Texans net double figures, #8 South Plains pummels Coastal Bend 95-49 Thursday in season opener

LEVELLAND — Four players scored in double figures Thursday night as the eighth-ranked South Plains College women's basketball team pummeled Coastal Bend College 95-49 in the season opener at the Texan Dome.

"I thought we played well tonight, and I was happy with the overall effort from our team," South Plains head coach Ara Baten said. "We had some sloppy minutes at times, but our effort was there and we ran the floor hard. We have to get better, but overall it was a good game for us."

South Plains shot a 46.3 percent clip from the field as sophomore forward Celia Sumbane led all scorers with 15 points and nine boards over 18 minutes. Sumbane connected on 7 of 12 shots from the floor, and also totaled three assists and a pair of blocked shots. Dabria Blackwell recorded a double-double coming off the bench, netting 13 points to go along with 12 boards over 17 minutes.

"I don't know that we got a ball reversal until about halfway through the second quarter, and we can't play that way because it won't be effective for us," Baten said. "When we get in transition and we have opportunities, we want to take them. But if they have a set defense down there, we have to have enough patience to get the ball from one side of the court to the other."

Sophomore guard Matilda Soderlund chipped in 12 points and handed out three assists over 27 minutes, while Jennifer Silva poured in 10 points and McKenzie Lee finished with nine. South Plains dominated the glass, outrebounding the Lady Cougars 77-32, and forced Coastal Bend into 19 turnovers, resulting in 22 points on the offensive end. SPC poured in 50 points inside the paint and netted 24 points on second-chance opportunities, while the Lady Cougars shot just 23.8 percent from the floor and 13 percent from distance.

"I was happy with our guards tonight," Baten said. "We have a lot of things we have to get better at on both ends of the floor, and in all phases of the game, we have to play better. That said, I'm not going to take anything away from our kids, and I thought their energy was good and the effort was there, and this was a good test for us."

South Plains will be off on Friday before squaring off with Dodge City on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Texan Dome. Admission to the game is free and can be seen live at spctexans.com.