South Plains Women
Lady Texans start fast with new coach By DAVE WOHLFARTH Ara Baten’s first year on the job was a rousing success. His show may continue to be a hit in Levelland. The Lady Texans won 20 games in his debut, captured the Western Junior College Athletic Conference regular season crown, the WJCAC Tournament title and the Region V championship and reached the national Elite Eight. “It was a good year,” Baten said. “It was my first year so there was a transition period, but we picked up steam and played really well in the postseason. We made a run at it.” The Lady Texans lost an early season nonconference tilt at Trinity Valley 72-53, then won six straight until losing a pair of WJCAC road games to Midland and Howard, each by eight points. Coach Ara Baten South Plains bounced back to win seven straight league games to take the conference championship with a 13-2 record. The Lady Texans avenged those losses to Howard and Midland by spanking both of them in the conference postseason tourney. A 74-72 squeaker over Weatherford in the Region V finals earned South Plains a berth in the NJCCA Sweet 16 in Lubbock. The fourth-seeded Lady Texans downed Georgia Highlands in their first game but were eliminated by Northwest Florida State 63-54 in the quarterfinals. “It was a good year. I’m so proud of our kids,” Baten said. “The whole year was difficult, but our kids did a good job of adapting.” The year was difficult because the regular season didn’t begin until after Jan.1 and there were few nonconference games and no in-season tournaments. WJCAC opponents were played three times. All because of COVID-19 concerns. The Lady Texans were lucky. They had only one player test South Plains Lady Texan Roster Name, Ht., Pos., Class, Hometown Celia Sumbane, 6-1, F, Fr., Maputo, Mozambique Zuzanna Pacak, 5-9, G, Fr., Zgorzelec, Poland Destinee Reyna, 5-4, G, Soph., Afton, Texas Taylor Tadlock, 5-7, G, Fr., Lubbock, Texas Matilda Soderlund, 5-5, G, Fr., Stockholm, Sweden Vitoria Carvalho, 6-2, P, Fr., Rio De Janerio, Brazil Martyna Czescik, 5-11, F, Soph., Warsaw, Poland Viktoria Ivanova, 5-10, F. Soph., Star Zagoro, Bulgaria Raija Todd, 5-7, G, Soph., Cedar Hill, Texas Ewa Kielar, 6-1, P, Soph., Pabianice, Poland Makalah Robinson, 5-6, G, Fr., Cedar Hill, Texas Tania Tamele, 6-1, P, Fr., Maputo, Mozambique Jordan Brown, 5-9, G, Soph., Plainsboro, New Jersey Ashala Moseberry, 5-10, F, Soph., Madison, Wisconsin Petula Ferriera, 6-0, P, Fr., Sao Paulo, Brazil Coach: Ara Baten Asst. Coaches: Denise Rosario, Kaylyn Banks 2020-2021 record: 20-4, 13-2 86 College
Jordan Brown
Viktoria Ivanova
Ewa Kielar
Ashala Moseberry
Martyna Czescik
Denitsa Petrova
positive, and that was during Christmas break. None of their games was postponed. Baten was named the WJCAC coach of the year, and four of his players earned conference plaudits. Debora Reis was the league’s MVP and freshman player of the year. Grace Hunter and Jordan Brown were all-conference, and Viktoria Ivanova was honorable mention. Reis, a 6-0 freshman forward from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, led the Lady Texans in scoring, averaging 13.6 points, and rebounds, with 13 per game. She turned in 20 double-doubles for South Plains. She’s playing for the University of San Francisco this season. Hunter, a 5-10 sophomore guard from Wellington, New Zealand, logged 9.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg statistics and led the team in assists, averaging 3.5. She led SPC in scoring with 17 points in the season-ending loss to Northwest Florida. Hunter transferred to Florida International. Dyana Offutt, a 5-10 sophomore forward from San Antonio, started about half the Lady Texans’ games and contributed 4.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg. She transferred to the University of New Orleans. That’s three members of last year’s Lady Texans now shooting baskets for Division I teams. However, in an unusual development for a junior college team, five of last year’s Lady Texans are coming back for this season. And it would have been six except for an injury. “Having five back is even a little different than normal,” said Baten, who has coached junior college teams for 20 years. “COVID changed things because the kids were granted an extra year of eligibility, so some of the kids decided to stay put.” Two of the five returners were basically full-time starters, and another started half the games. Brown, a 5-9 sophomore guard from Plainsboro, New Jersey, (Continued on next page) 2021-2022 Panhandle-Plains Basketball
