The Odessa College Lady Wranglers bounced back from Monday’s loss at Midland College, jumping out to an early lead and continuing to pull away Thursday in a 70-41 victory over Western Texas College in WJCAC action at the OC Sports Center.
Odessa College (17-8 overall, 5-5 WJCAC) moved back into fourth place in the conference standings, a game ahead of Howard College. The Lady Wranglers visit Howard College on Monday.
Odessa College coach Ara Baten credited the team’s defensive play with setting the tone in the victory. The Lady Wranglers forced Western Texas College (11-13, 3-8) into 25 turnovers, grabbing 15 steals, and blocked 13 shots in holding the Lady Westerners to 23.8 percent shooting (15 of 63).
“I thought we were really locked in defensively, especially early in the game,” Baten said. “We played really well on that end of the floor. That’s probably as well as we’ve played on that end of the floor in a while.”
Tanaka Gapare and Leticia Soares each had a double-double to lead the Lady Wranglers. Gapare finished with game highs of 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Soares had 13 points and 11 rebounds as Odessa College posted a 53-32 rebounding edge. Chinna Fair added 12 points for the Lady Wranglers, who shot 47.1 percent from the floor (32 of 68).
Odessa College never trailed and took the lead for good at 4-2 less than three minutes into the game.
“It was something we needed, especially taking a loss to Midland,” Gapare said of Thursday’s performance. “It was a way for us to bounce back.
“Everybody’s in the same boat for that one top-four spot. We really had to come out and bring our best game out there.”
Western Texas College was led by Catera Samuel with 13 points and McKenna Spikes with 10.
Odessa College built a 19-6 lead in the first quarter, holding Western Texas to just two baskets in the period. Fair scored seven of the game’s first 15 points as the Lady Wranglers jumped out to an 11-4 advantage.
Gapare scored six consecutive points late in the first quarter and had 12 at halftime as Odessa College pushed the lead to 40-18. Soares had all six of her first-half points in the second quarter.
“We’ve got several kids with the ability to score,” Baten said. “We’ve had a lot of different kids who’ve done a lot of things.
“When we play well, we execute and we play inside-out. The ball goes in, either with the dribble or the pass, and then it moves back out. When we’re able to do that, we’re going to have some success.”
Nine of the 10 Odessa College players to see action scored. Soares had a game-high five assists and Gapare blocked four shots.
Gapare said the key was taking every possession as a separate event with every player making a contribution. While the Lady Wranglers didn’t win every time, they won consistently enough to push the lead to 36 points in the fourth quarter.
“It was definitely like everybody’s a piece of the puzzle and we all just put it together to make one big picture,” Gapare said. “It worked out for us really well. It was good to see us come together again, especially when we needed it.”
WESTERN TEXAS COLLEGE (11-13 overall, 3-8 WJCAC)
Allison Valdez 1-8 2-2 4, Catara Samuel 5-18 2-2 13, Avery Gregory 0-3 0-2 0, Mayra Garcia 0-5 0-0 0, McKenna Spikes 5-9 0-1 10, Corbriyana Wingfield 1-4 0-0 3, Jauslynn Shephard 0-1 0-0 0, Kyra Lewis 1-6 1-2 3, Reece Quigley 0-0 0-0 0, Hanna Carr 2-4 1-2 6, Yaritza Rivas 0-2 2-2 2, Lindsey Hearn 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 15-63 8-13 41.
ODESSA COLLEGE (17-8, 5-5)
Kassie Ybarra 2-4 0-0 5, Tanaka Gapare 8-15 0-1 16, Chinna Fair 5-14 1-1 12, Shannon Dozier 2-11 0-0 5, Leticia Soares 6-10 1-2 13, Danyael Goodhope 4-6 0-2 8, Aaliyah Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Cameryn Wilson 2-4 0-2 5, Amanda Soderqvist 2-3 0-0 4, Wytalla Motta 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 32-68 2-10 70.
WTC…………………….. 6.. 12 12 11 — 41
Odessa………………. 19.. 21 17 13 — 70
3-Point goals — Western Texas College: 3-15 (Samuel 1, Wingfield 1, Carr 1); Odessa College: 4-21 (Ybarra 1, Fair 1, Dozier 1, Wilson 1). Total fouls — Western Texas College 12, Odessa College 16. Fouled out — None. Technical fouls — None. Rebounds — Western Texas College 32 (Lewis 8); Odessa College 53 (Gapare 12). Assists — Western Texas College 8 (Gregory 2); Odessa College 22 (Soares).
WJCAC STANDINGS
WOMEN
Overall Conference
Team W L W L
New Mexico JC……………. 25 1 9 1
Frank Phillips College…… 20 4 8 3
Midland College………….. 14 10 7 4
Odessa College………….. 17 8 5 5
Howard College…………… 15 13 5 7
Clarendon College………. 20 6 4 6
Western Texas College… 11 13 3 8
South Plains College……. 15 12 2 9
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Thursday’s games
Odessa College 70, Western Texas College 41
Frank Phillips College 62, Howard College 61
New Mexico Junior College 61, South Plains College 48
Monday’s games
Odessa College at Howard College, 5:45 p.m.
South Plains College at Western Texas College, 5:45 p.m.
Frank Phillips College at Richland, 6 p.m.
Clarendon College at New Mexico Junior College, 6:45 p.m.
