LEVELLAND — Samantha Atkinson-Roach scored 13 and dished out four assists, while Darias Whittington dropped in 10 as the Cougars fell 70-60 to the No.16-ranked South Plains College women's basketball team on Wednesday night at the Texan Dome.

The Cougars did not back down from the challenge of playing their first of back to back national ranked opponets, holding the Lady Texans to a sub 40% night offensively.  "We played very, hard defensively tonight," said Head Coach Nate Purswell.  "That is going to be our style this season, lots of chaotic, hard-nosed, hands up, pressure defense; we just need to figure out a way to score a few more buckets on the offensive side," continued Purswell.

Daris Whittington knocked down a 3 from the wing to begin the contest and take a 3-0 lead with 9:49 to play in the first quarter. It would be the only time South Plains trailed over the next 39 minutes, as they rallied back.  The Cougars trimmed the lead to two on a 3 from Angelina Barela  before a SPC hoop-and-harm conversion would give South Plains a 34-28 lead into the half.  South Plains carried a 48-38 lead into the final stint and went on to lead by as much as 14 midway through the fourth quarter. Coastal Bend cut the deficit to eight on a pair of free throws from Emike Hemphill with 3:17 left. SPC would end any hopes of a comeback with a jumper from the free throw line with under two minutes left, extending the lead to 66-52.

South Plains won the battle on the glass as they outrebounded the Lady Cougars 36-21. Coastal Bend's Saman Atkinson finished with 13 points and four assists in 31 minutes. Whittington totaled 10 points and three steals, while Hemphill finished with nine points and Barela chipped in with eight.

CBC Will be back in action today when they play No. 21 ranked Midland College in Odessa at 3:00 pm