Basketball: Lady Wranglers control their own destiny

Ara Baten prefers to leave the scenarios to oddsmakers, the what-ifs to the ones wanting to waste time in pondering them.

The Odessa College women's basketball team head coach knows his team has a shot at the playoffs, and that is all that matters to him.

In fact, New Mexico Junior College - which plays the Lady Wranglers at 5:30 p.m. today at the OC Sports Center - is as far down on the schedule as he will look.

"The only thing I know about this is we still control our own destiny," Baten said. "And that's a position, with two games left, that you want to be in. If we take care of what we have to take care of, then I don't have to get into the scenarios. It's more important for us to stay focused on what's coming up."

Coming up is a matchup between two teams in a three-way tie for third place in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference. Howard College is the third team in the tie, and only the top four in the league make the Region V Tournament, which Odessa College (18-10 overall, 7-5) missed last year because of a 3-11 league campaign in Baten's first year.

For the Lady Wranglers, a win against the Lady Thunderbirds (15-9, 5-5) could prove their uniqueness in the league scene.

They have been marked by inconsistency, but this month, thanks to a 69-59 overtime win over second-place South Plains on Feb. 2 and third-place Howard College on Monday, they've shown spunk. South Plains College handed No. 3 Midland College its first loss of the season Monday, and Howard College had beat the Lady Wranglers by 16 points in January.

The difference between the win and the loss against Howard?

"We played as a team" in the victory," said sophomore forward Tamika Johnson, who shot 5-of-12 from the floor for 10 points Monday. "When we play as a team, there's no way we can lose. It's about who wanted it the most, and apparently we did because we fought through our differences and made it happen."

Odessa College has seen a resurgence from players like freshman forward Brittany Pennell and freshman guard Keisha Harris, who had 10 points and a team-high 15, respectively, on Monday.

Baten, one who doesn't like to spotlight a player if the light doesn't need to be turned on, praised Harris after the overtime victory.

"Keisha played probably her best game of her career," Baten said. "Without that contribution, we probably would have been beaten. She was huge in the biggest part of the game. ... She got some big rebounds, she defended well, she hit some huge shots. I hope she can continue that."

If so, the timing would be perfect.

The Wranglers already defeated New Mexico JC 73-68 on Jan. 19 in Hobbs, N.M. Odessa College was behind by as many as 13 points in the second half before coming back.

"I think if you ask their coaches, they'd probably feel that was one that got away from them," Baten said. "That's one they could've won. They had a 13-point lead midway through the second half and I've been on the other end of giving up a big lead in the second half, so I understand. You feel like it got away from you."

Baten said Lady Thunderbirds forward Natalia Santos, who is second in the conference with 14.9 points per game, is one of the most talented post players in the league, as well as a great inside-outside presence.

And although his team already has a comeback road victory against New Mexico JC in its pocket, Baten is being cautious as he approaches today.

It would be that way even if the Lady Wranglers were already in the playoffs.

"We just deal with what's in front of us, and it'll all play out," Baten said. "Even if we had already qualified hypothetically, that doesn't mean we'd want to play any worse. All of that stuff is going to work itself out one way or another. If we become too occupied with that, then we're not focused on what's important. It's probably been two weeks since I've addressed anything with the tournament with the team.

"I think everyone understands we're in a position to compete for one of those spots."