College basketball: OC’s chance for victory dries up after drought

With nine minutes to play Monday night, the Odessa College women’s basketball team was in good position to shock Howard College in a Western Junior College Athletic Conference game.

Trivonne Senegal had just rebounded a missed free throw by teammate Amanda Burnett and put back the layup to give OC a five-point lead. That field goal would be the final one — and very nearly the final points — the Lady Wranglers would score.

Howard, struggling to find the basket as well, went on a 17-2 run to close out the game and claim a 65-55 victory at the OC Sports Center.

Monica Jones scored 26 points and Candace Lambert had 17 points for Howard (20-5 overall, 6-3 conference).

Whitney Goard scored 14 points and Ashley Farrell had 10 points for Odessa College (5-18, 1-8). The Lady Wranglers will next play on Feb. 14 at South Plains College.

“We couldn’t buy one,” Odessa College coach Ara Baten said. “I’m disappointed with the result, but not the effort because I thought the kids played hard the whole game. Howard College is a very good defensive team, and they are going to make you work for everything, inside and out. But I thought that we did a very good job tonight defensively and that started a lot of our offense.”

Odessa College’s defensive presence allowed the Lady Wranglers to quickly erase a five-point halftime deficit when Jennifer Colli and Priscilla Mbiandja both converted steals into baskets.

A jumper by Jones moved Howard back in front by three, but Diandra Marquez hit a 3-pointer for Odessa College to tie the game with 17:56 left to play in the game.

The teams then traded baskets before OC was able to use a layup by Senegal, another by Goard and then the putback by Senegal to lead 53-48 with nine minutes left in regulation.

Howard chipped away at the lead, but it wasn’t until Jones hit two free throws with 3:44 left in the game that the Lady Hawks had the lead for good.

Howard College 65, Odessa College 55

HOWARD COLLEGE (20-5 overall, 6-3 in WJCAC)

Candace Lambert 76 1-2 17, Monica Jones 9 8-11 26, Danielle Cota 2 0-0 4, Aqueelah Watkings 3 0-0 6, Jotosha McDonald 1 0-3 2, Amanda Ramirez 0 2-2 2, Rachel Dryver 0 0-0 0, Shamika Jones 0 2-2 2, Veronica Wilson 2 0-1 4, DeAndra Thomas 1 0-2 2. Totals 25 13-23 65.

ODESSA COLLEGE (5-18, 1-8)

Jennifer Colli 1 1-3 3, Whitney Goard 5 4-4 14, Ashley Farrell 4 2-5 10, Diandra Marquez 2 0-0 6, Priscilla Mbiandja 2 4-5 8, Amanda Burnett 1 1-6 3, Whitney Davis 1 0-0 2, LaKeisha Harris 0 0-0 0, Kasia Suknarowska 2 0-0 5, Tamika Johnson 0 0-0 0, Carlo Wade 0 0-0 0, Trivonne Senegal 2 0-0 4. Totals 20 12-23 55.

Halftime — Howard College 34, Odessa College 29. 3-Point goals — Howard College 2-4 (Lambert 2-4), Odessa College 3-9(Colli 0-2, Goard 0-1, Marquez 2-4, Suknarowska 1-2). Total fouls — Howard College 17, Odessa College 21. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None. Rebounds — Howard College 29 (Jones 5, Thomas 5), Odessa College 32 (Farrell 9). Assists — Howard College 16 (Lambert 4), Odessa College 12 (Burnett 4).

WJCAC standings

Team Overall Conf.

South Plains 19-3 8-1

Midland 21-4 7-2

Howard 20-5 6-3

Western Texas 12-11 5-3

Frank Phillips 16-6 3-5

Clarendon 13-10 3-5

Odessa 5-18 1-8

New Mexico JC 3-20 1-7

Thursday, Jan. 31

Odessa College 77, New Mexico JC 66

South Plains 67, Frank Phillips 54

Howard 62, Midland College 55

Clarendon 66, Western Texas 50

Monday, Feb. 4

Howard 65, Odessa College 55

Midland College 70, South Plains 52

Clarendon at Frank Phillips

Western Texas, open

New Mexico JC, open

Thursday, Feb. 7

New Mexico JC at Midland College

Howard at Frank Phillips

South Plains at Western Texas

Odessa Colllege, open

Clarendon, open