The Odessa College women's basketball team used a strong start to power past Frank Phillips College on Monday night.

The No. 1 Lady Wranglers sprinted ahead of the Lady Plainsmen with an 8-0 run in the first quarter and led the remainder of the contest on the way to a 75-53 victory at the OC Sports Center.

OC took advantage of its size and athleticism in the paint to dominate paint and in the rebounding department.

The Lady Wranglers routinely fed forward Leticia Soares in the post. Soares finished with a game-high 24 points on 10 of 11 shooting.

"We dictated the game pretty well," said guard LaLa Robinson, who finished with eight assists. "It was an advantage because obviously we have size down there. Coach wanted us to do it more than we actually did."

OC (19-0, 7-0 WJCAC) controlled the glass as well with a 48-26 advantage. Chinna Fair finished with 11 rebounds to go with six points.

Despite the victory, Lady Wranglers' head coach Ara Baten said he believed his team isn't progressing at the rate it was early in season and if it wants to accomplish its goals it will need to find another level soon.

"We haven't practiced well and we haven't played well in about two weeks," Baten said. "I don't know why. I don't know if we're just satisfied with the start to the season. I don't know what it is, but we're not playing anywhere near the level we're capable of or the level that we need to be playing at. We have become stagnant. We've gotten away from getting better. I don't know what the problem is. Our body language is terrible. It's bad in the locker room. It's bad at practice. Our willingness to continue to improve, our hunger, all of those kinds of things have become stagnant."

Robinson agreed with Baten and said that change will have to come from the players in that locker room.

"We have to remain focused and keep working on the court and off the court so we can be successful," Robinson said. "That's we something we have to find internally. We have to work together as one."

The Lady Wranglers defense held down Frank Phillips (13-6, 2-5) throughout most of the contest. The Lady Plainsmen hit just 32.3 percent from the field in the loss.

Mariah McCully finished with 16 points in the win for OC, making 5 of 7 from the field including 2 of 3 from 3-point range.

Kiara Shoal led Frank Phillips with a double-double in the loss, scoring 11 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. The Lady Plainsmen freshman had a difficult time with her offense however, making just 5 of her 18 field-goal attempts.

The Lady Wranglers hit the halfway point of their conference season and will start their second go-round through the WJCAC on Thursday when they host No. 5 New Mexico Junior College.

OC defeated the Lady Thunderbirds 77-68 in the first meeting on Nov. 30 in Hobbs, N.M

Article by Joshua Perry OA