This past week, the South Plains College Lady Texans and Texans basketball programs were in action for conference matchups, resulting in the Lady Texans winning their 14th straight game and the Texans going 2-0.
The #1 ranked Lady Texans kicked off the week on Jan. 12 with a 78-65 win against Frank Phillips College at home, in a game where they didn’t trail a second.
The Lady Texans were led by the trio of Angelina Joao, Isabel Joao and Shrouq Amer in the win, as Angelina Joao recorded 27 points on 9/13 shooting from the field, going 3/6 from three and 6/8 from the free throw line, adding 11 rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Isabel Joao recorded 13 points powered by a 5/7 free throw effort, adding 14 rebounds and an assist, and Amer recorded 10 points on 5/6 shooting, along with three rebounds and a steal.
As a team, the Lady Texans outshot FPC, 41% to 37% from the field, 30% to 25% from three-point range and 68% to 39% from the free throw line, also besting them 52-31 in rebounds, 18-11 in assists and 25-7 in bench points.
FPC did win the turnover margin by six and outscored the Lady Texans 11-6 in points off turnovers, also outscoring them 29-18 in the fourth quarter, which wasn’t for Lady Texans Head Basketball Coach Ara Baten’s liking.
“I believe that we played really well for about three quarters. We need to close out games better, but I am encouraged by the improvement,” Coach Baten said. “Continued improvement is the most important thing for us at this stage in our season.”
Their win against FPC marked their 14th straight to improve to 15-1 overall and 3-0 in conference play this season, and what’s scary is the nation’s top-ranked team can still get better.
Following the win, the Lady Texans had a bye in the back half of the week, meanwhile the #18 ranked Texans were in action twice on the week, also facing FPC starting last week.
The Texans went a perfect 2-0 with an 85-66 win over FPC at home on Jan. 12 and a 74-69 win on the road at New Mexico Military Institute this past Thursday.
Against FPC, the Texans outshot them 46% to 33% from the field, 33% to 21% from three and 68% to 67% from the free throw line, also besting them 45-32 in rebounds, 14-9 in assists and 27-20 in second chance points.
FPC would win the turnover margin by four and score seven more points off turnovers, but they never held the lead against the Texans.
Statistical standouts for the Texans against FPC included Antallah Sandlin’el with 19 points on 5/9 shoot- ing from the field, going 8/9 from the free throw line, adding five rebounds and a steal, Micah Bell with 16 points on 7/14 shooting from the field, nine rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block, and Zion Pipkin with 12 points on 3/6 shooting from the field, going 5/6 from the free throw line, adding five assists, two steals, a rebound and a block.
In the Texans game against NMMI, Sandlin’el would lead them once again, scoring 27 points on 6/12 shoot- ing from the field, going 3/7 from three and 12/12 from the free throw line, adding five rebounds and a steal.
Other standouts included Jaylen Colon with 19 points on 5/9 shooting from the field, going 3/7 from three and 6/7 from the free throw line, adding two assists and a steal, and Bell with 12 points on 3/7 shooting, going 6/8 from the free throw line, adding seven rebounds, an assist and a steal.
As a team, the Texans outshot NMMI 35% to 33% from the field, 32% to 25% from three and 87% to 69% from the free throw line, while also besting them 4138 in rebounds and 12-10 in assists but losing the turnover margin by three.
Following the pair of wins last week, Texans Head Basketball Coach Cinco Boone shared his overall thoughts.
“I thought last week in both games that we competed at a higher level. We’ve talked a lot recently about the difference in playing hard versus competing, and I thought we had a higher number of possessions where we competed, and we had better results,” Coach Boone said. “Our goal now is to increase those number of possessions and find consistency in knowing that’s what we will get every
single night from our team.
We still have to find a way to limit our turnovers and be better on the defensive glass. Those will be areas we are concentrating on as we continue to grow as a team.”
They’ll look to improve in those areas moving forward, as the Texans sit at 13-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play following last week’s wins.
Both the Lady Texans and Texans have huge, ranked conference matchups early in the week against New Mexico Junior College, and then both teams have a bye in the back half of the week.
They’ll return to action on Monday at home versus conference foe Western Texas College, with the women at 5:45 p.m. and the men at 7:30 p.m. in the Texan Dome.