The season didn’t start the way Odessa College women’s basketball team was hoping.
Chana Paxixe scored 14 points to lead Cochise College to a 60-48 victory against the Lady Wranglers Saturday at the OC Sports Center.
It was the season opener for Odessa College, while the Lady Apaches improved to 1-1.
Led by Paxixe, Cochise College opened-up to a 21-11 first quarter lead.
“Basketball is a game of runs,” Lady Apaches’ head coach Misty Opat said. “This is a great Odessa team – they are going to win a lot of games this year.
“But I thought my kids, while we did have some mental lapses, finished our shots a lot better.”
The Lady Wranglers battled defensively with a continuous full-court press the entire game, as they forced 19 turnovers on the afternoon and converted that into 23 points of their own.
Odessa College, under second-year head coach Franqua Bedell, had success using the press in the second quarter, allowing just 10 points to cut the Lady Apaches’ led to 31-26.
“(The Lady Wranglers) play a man-to-man press, and early on, we got caught a few times in trap situations,” Opat said.
The Lady Apaches began strong after the halftime break, starting the third quarter on a 13-4 scoring run.
“We have got to be more consistent and (on defense) and be able to do that constantly for 40 minutes, because that’s why I call it ’40 seconds of chaos’,” Bedell said.
The Arizona-based team took advantage of a myriad of Lady Wranglers’ missed layups and unforced, rushed turnovers.
“Today, we got beat,” Bedell said. “That’s what happens when the team misses between 24 and 27 layups – you ain’t going to be winning ball games if you do not execute on a high level.”
The Cochise College lead was down to just five in the fourth quarter – the Lady Wranglers created three straight steals to open the final frame and cut the deficit to 48-43.
“That’s what the team thrives on – is defense,” Bedell said. “A lot of those missed layups came off our defense.”
Those layups that were not falling prior to the run and directly after the run were converted by Chelsy Bautista and Fanta Daffe.
Jones then made a 3-pointer to widen the Lady Apanches’ lead to 12 with 3:11 left in the game.
“We were able to clear out the press and force one-on-one play and I thought we handled that much, much better (in the second half),” Opat said.
The failure to execute down the stretch to close the deficit is what did the team in, according to Bedell.
“When it is crunch time, like we were positioned in, our defense put us in great positions,” Bedell said. “But if somebody messes up, the way we play is fast and chaotic and we are going to have holes, the opposition is going to take advantage of those times.”
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Cochise College 60, Odessa College 48
Cochise College (1-1)
Chana Paxixe 5-9 3-3 14, Deja Jones 4-8 2-2 11, Alayna Contreras 3-8 0-0 8, Maeva Ngnawo 3-8 1-2 7, Andjela Bigovic 4-8 0-0 8, Deyana Bogan 3-8 0-0 6, Jessenia Lawson 1-4 4-4 6. Totals 23-57 10-13 60.
Odessa College (0-1)
Khaniah Garner 6-13 2-4 14, Chely Bautista 4-7 1-1 9, Nahawa Diarra Berthe 3-9 1-2 7, Natalie Lara 3-8 0-0 7, Tanila Marshall 1-3 2-2 4, Ivana Krajina 1-5 1-2 3, Fanta Daffe 1-3 0-1 2, Tia Shelling 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 20-59 7-12 48.
Cochise College…………………. 21 10 17 12 — 60
Odessa College………………….. 11 15 13 9 — 48
3-Point goals — Cochise College 4 (Alayna Contreras 2, Deja Jones 1, Chana Paxixe 1). Odessa College 1 (Natalie 1). Total fouls — Cochise College 16,Odessa College 15. Fouled out — Cochise College: Deyana Bogan. Technical fouls — None. Rebounds — Cochise College 35 (Jessenia Lawson 8), Odessa College 30 (Khaniah Garner 6, Tanila Marshall 6). Assists — Cochise College 12 (Deja Jones 3, Ali Hardwell 3), Odessa College 11 (Nahawa Diarra Berthe 6).
