The Odessa College women’s basketball team continued its winning ways as the Lady Wranglers extended their winning streak to nine games with a 93-45 win over Ranger College Friday at the OC Sports Center.
Playing in the Wrangler Classic, Odessa College improved to 10-2 while Ranger College fell to 3-6.
The game was close only until tipoff as the Lady Wranglers never trailed and were in complete control from start to finish.
It was the first game in two days for Odessa College as the Lady Wranglers will turn right around and face McClennan Community College at 1 p.m. Saturday to finish up the weekend.
“I thought defensively, we sped them up,” Odessa College head coach Franqua Bedell said. “We gave them a little bit of havoc. We finished some easy shots. I thought we started off a little slow in the first quarter. We guarded them pretty well in the first half. I thought we could’ve done a better job of keeping them in the single digits. That’s one of our goals. But we have to do a better job of taking care of the basketball and executing at a higher rate and pace.”
Odessa College hasn’t lost since its 61-56 defeat to Cochise College back on Nov. 10.
The Lady Wranglers were led in scoring by Sarengbe Sanogo who had 11 points, going 3-3 on field goals and 3-4 on free throws and Kimora Daly who also had 11 points, going 4-7 on field goals, 1-2 on 3-pointers and 2-2 on free throws.
Ivana Krajina, Chelsy Bautista, Destinee Barnes and Juliet Escomchukwu each had nine points for the Lady Wranglers.
Ranger College was led by Jamyria Ramsey’s 10 points as she went 4-16 on field goals, 2-10 on 3-pointers and 0-2 on free throws.
Anastasija Cernova had nine points after going 1-9 on field goals, 1-4 on 3-pointers and 6-10 on free throws.
“We had a lot of freshmen playing tonight,” Ranger College head coach Mark Morefield said. “Odessa College is a good basketball team. We have talent but we just don’t want to execute. That’s something all the freshmen have to understand. What cuts it in high school won’t in college.”
After a short scoreless drought to start the game, the Lady Wranglers quickly found their footing and took off on a 24-5 run in the first quarter.
The Lady Wranglers led 26-10 at the end of the quarter.
Ranger College quietly came back as the Rangers used a 6-3 run to begin the second quarter.
However, Odessa College snapped back into it with an 8-1 scoring surge to take a 38-17 lead with 4:55 left in the quarter.
Shelling drove straight to the basket for an easy layup after an OC timeout to make it 42-17 with 2:30 left in the half.
The Lady Wranglers took a 46-22 lead at the halftime break.
Odessa College continued right where it left off at the start of the third quarter, going on a 12-0 run to begin the second half.
Krajina made a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 61-24 with 5:22 remaining.
Leading 68-26, the Lady Wranglers put in a whole new lineup into the game with 2:08 on the clock.
Odessa College ended the third quarter firmly in control with a 72-28 advantage.
Odessa College outscored Ranger College 26-6 in the third quarter.
The Lady Wranglers continued to cruise in the fourth quarter as more of their backup players came off the bench to get some playing time.
“We pretty much do that every game,” Bedell said. “There might be one or two players that might not play a game, due to an injury or lack of focus but we try to get as many players in as we can. That’s how you develop players.”
After this weekend, the Lady Wranglers will have a short break before regrouping to play Seward County Community College on Dec. 16 in the Christmas Classic in Liberal, Kan.
