The Odessa College Lady Wranglers secured a berth in the NJCAA Region V tournament with Thursday's 70-63 victory over Clarendon College at the OC Sports Center.

They also gave themselves a chance to improve their position in the WJCAC standings over the final two games of the regular season.

The Lady Wranglers (19-8 overall, 7-5 WJCAC) can do no worse than finish fourth in the conference, but are just a game back of Frank Phillips College and Midland College, who are tied for second place.

Odessa College repeatedly came back from deficits of up to eight points only to have Clarendon (20-8, 4-8) pull back ahead. The Lady Wranglers finally took control with a 13-0 run over the final five minutes.

"I don't think we ever figured it out," Odessa College coach Ara Baten said. "They're a really difficult team for us to defend. I thought we did the best we could. They just shoot it so well, and on top of that they penetrate well.

"They're well coached, they're talented players, they're difficult for us to defend. It's a difficult matchup for us."

The Lady Bulldogs took a 60-57 lead when Lizet Sosa hit two free throws with 5:17 remaining, but didn't score again until Mia Castaneda's half-court heave at the final buzzer.

"We had to keep our head up," said Odessa College's Chinna Fair, who had seven points, seven rebounds and four assists. "We had to play good defense and not let them get into our heads by them scoring baskets. We had to play our game and play good defense. The last five minutes, our defense won the game."

Lady Wranglers guard Kassie Ybarra, who finished with five points and three assists, said the team's energy level helped turn things around.

"We just had to pick each other up," she said. "At a point, we weren't who we were. We really wanted it, so we had to come out with a win. We had to support each other and move the ball around."

Tanaka Gapare had another double-double to lead Odessa College, scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Shannon Dozier and Leticia Soares scored nine points apiece and Amanda Soderqvist and Julan McDonald each had eight points off the bench.

Ja'Vonda Daniels scored 15 points to lead Clarendon with Castaneda finishing with 13 points.

The game had eight ties and eight lead changes as Odessa College worked to stay within reach of the Lady Bulldogs. Gapare and Soares each had big stretches with Soares putting the Lady Wranglers in front to stay with 4:07 remaining.

"Offensively, I thought we got a lot of good looks inside and outside," Baten said. "I don't think we forced a whole lot. I thought we executed pretty well.

"(Clarendon) did a good of limiting us to one shot and we're usually a pretty good offensive rebounding team. When you're not shooting it real well and you're only getting one look, it's tough."

The Lady Wranglers finished 27 of 67 from the field (40.3 percent) with Clarendon shooting 40.4 percent (23 of 57). Odessa College finished with a 52-26 rebounding advantage.