Odessa, TX – The Lady Panthers collected their first win of the 2020 season, knocking off Lubbock High 46-39 on Friday evening in the Permian Fieldhouse. It was also the first career win for Mojo girls head basketball coach Keshia Collins.
Coach Collins was excited about the first win – for the Lady Panthers and her first victory as Permian head coach. “The first win feels amazing and it came at the right time. We were in slump mentally and so we had a team talk this week about what we all need to change and fix to produce on the court. The girls came out and did their part.”
Biyyanan Ellis sparked the Lady Panthers in a lopsided opening quarter. She set the tempo with a three-ball and followed with a basket to aide Permian’s 11-1 first stanza lead. E-Jae Miller and Sara Chavez also got shots to fall into the cylinder. Playing with more confidence as a team, the Lady Panthers executed one of their better defensive efforts of the season.
Mojo maintained the deficit in the second frame. Miller added four more points and Karen Guzman made the first of her two treys for a 21-13 halftime advantage. Permian went 5-for-7 in free throws, while Lubbock only made two of their five attempts from the line in the first half.
After the intermission, Lubbock High came out and was more competitive in the second half. The visitors put together their best quarter of the game in the third. Five different players scored a bucket en route to a 15-point quarter. The Lady Panthers added 12 of their own behind another three by Guzman and a pair of baskets by Bailey Wight. Lubbock narrowed the gap to just a five points, but Permian still led 33-28.
The final eight minutes went back-and-forth, but the Mojo defense stiffened and denied ball movement into the paint on numerous occasions. The Lady Panthers spent much of the fourth quarter shooting free-throws. Down the stretch, Permian went 7-for-11 from the line to hold on for the 46-39 decision.
Victories are always a good thing, and many times can become the building blocks to bigger and better things ahead. Coach Collins thinks the win is coming at the right time, “This will definitely give us a spark we’ve been waiting for.“
The Lady Panthers will play a pair of road games next week and hope to build on today’s positives. Permian will make a trip to Shallowater on Tuesday (December 8) and then Monahans on Friday (December 11). Both games are slated for a 6:00 p.m. tip.
| BY QUARTER | |||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| Lubbock | 01 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 39 |
| Permian |
11 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 46 |
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
Lubbock
Ramirez 3 3-4 10, Wootan 5 0-1 10, Gentry 2 0-0 6, Phillips 2 0-0 4, Villa 2 0-0 4, Hernandez 1 0-0 2, Shires 1 0-0 2, Tipton 0 1-2 1
Permian
K Guzman 3 6-9 14, E Miller 4 4-4 12, B Wight 4 1-2 9, B Ellis 2 0-0 5, S Chavez 1 1-7 3, C Juarez 1 0-0 2, C Leal 0 1-1 1
3-Pts: Lubbock – 3 (Gentry 2, Ramirez 1) | Permian – 3 (Guzman 2, Ellis 1)
Fouls: Lubbock – 17 | Permian – 14