It was a hot shooting that spearheaded an early signature win for the Dodge City women's basketball team as they opened the season against #13 South Plains in Levelland, Texas as the Conquistadors earned an 85-78 victory.
The Conqs avenge last season's early season loss at South Plains this time using a strong start to the contest to propel themselves to the win.
Five and half minutes into the contest the Conqs had worked the lead to an 11-2 advantage and would balloon the lead up to a 23-6 margin with a little over three minutes left in the first quarter. The Conqs led 23-14 after the first stanza of action. South Plains cut into the lead but not by much in the second quarter as the Conqs carried a 42-36 lead into halftime on the road. The points continued to pour in for the Conqs in the third quarter as they dumped in 28 points and despite South Plains nearly staying stride for stride with the Conqs in the second half it was the hot start to the contest that would give them the victory cementing the win late 85-78.
Offensively the Conqs shot 47.1% from the field and went 13-33 from three-point range and had 16 assists on 32 made shots. While defensively they forced South Plains into 21 turnovers and were able to overcome the Texans of South Plains' 38% shooting for the game.
A quartet of double-figure scorers paced the Conqs led by Paris Santacaterina who dropped a career-high 25 points besting her previous career-high by 10 points. Santacaterina shot 9-15 from the floor and 4-4 from the charity stripe adding five assists, four rebounds, and three steals. Parris Atkins added 19 points on 8-16 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds, while Kyriana Jones had 14 points going 4-8 from three-point range and added nine rebounds and five assists. Shorna Preston contributed 11 points on 4-7 shooting in the win.
The Conqs continue their Texas road trip this weekend as they will compete at the Odessa Classic taking on Midland on Friday, November 3rd at 4:00 pm and then #23 Odessa on Saturday, November 4th at 1:00 pm.
