Dec. 6—The No. 15 Odessa College women’s basketball team closed out the 2024 portion of its schedule with an 83-50 win against the Lamar Community College Running’ Lopes in a nonconference game Friday at the OC Sports Center.
Now, the Lady Wranglers (9-2) will take a 27-day break from playing as their next game won’t be until Jan. 2.
“I thought we came out with the intensity,” Odessa College head coach Franqua Bedell said. “We’re getting ready for conference play and we know how tough and how physical it is. We just have to be discipline in a few areas and I thought we were today. We’re short on some numbers but I thought everyone showed up.”
Lamar Community College fell to 4-9.
Odessa College was led in scoring by Juliet Esomchukwu’s 26 points while Aisha Amaral Dos Santos had 17 and Jaedyn Cook had 12.
The Lady Wranglers went 31-of-67 on field goals, 11-of-27 on 3-pointers and 10-of-18 on free throws.
Amaya Williams led the way in scoring for Lamar Community College with 17 points. She was the only player on her team to score in double-figures.
Lamar Community College went 20-of-51 on field goals, 4-of-13 on 3-pointers and 6-of-13 on free throws.
The game was tied at 17 with 1:13 left in the first quarter.
The Lady Wranglers added a basket to take a 19-17 lead heading into the second quarter.
Odessa College continued its run and took a 24-17 lead with 8:47 left.
A 3-pointer by Esomchukwu helped the Lady Wranglers build a 30-19 lead with 7:41 remaining.
The Lady Wranglers built a 38-23 advantage with 3:41 remaining in the quarter.
Aisha Amaral Dos Santos’ inside basket made it 40-23 shortly after.
Leah Delgarito’s 3-pointer brought Lamar Community College to a 43-28 deficit late in the quarter.
The Runnin’ Lopes added a transition basket by Amaya Williams to make it 43-30 with under a minute to go.
The lead was 13 for the Lady Wranglers at the half.
Odessa College held the visitors to only five points in the third quarter as the Lady Wranglers’ lead became 60-35 heading into the fourth.
Lamar Community College used a 9-7 run to begin the quarter.
However, the Lady Wranglers quickly reasserted their dominance, building a 74-44 lead with 4:30 remaining in the game.
Dos Santos added a layup in the closing minute and the Lady Wranglers had an 82-48 lead.
Bedell said his team’s defense still has room for improvement as Western Junior College Athletic Conference competition begins next month.
“I thought we played pretty good defense but at the same time, we have to do better in our conference,” Bedell said. “Rebounding is something we have to improve on. We gave up 40 rebounds. I thought we shot the ball well today. We’re shooting the ball better.”
Odessa College’s next game will be against Panola College at 11 a.m. Jan. 2 at the Evelyn Blaylock Classic in Kilgore.
For Bedell and his players, the break in the schedule is a godsend.
“It’s good to have this break,” Bedell said. “Hopefully we can get healthy our players make good decisions and are ready for conference play when we get back.”
The Lady Wranglers will open up conference play against Midland College at 5:45 p.m. Jan. 6 at the OC Sports Center.
