BY JOE ZIGTEMA
Sports Editor

The Howard Hawk women ran out of luck Thursday night.

Asia Reid pulls up for a jumper Thursday night at Dorothy Garrett Coliseum. Reid and the Hawks' comeback effort fell short in a 54-47 loss. --Herald Photo/Joe Zigtema

The Hawks couldn’t pull off a second straight come-from-behind victory, falling just short as the team lost to South Plains 54-47 at Dorothy Garrett Coliseum.

The Hawks fell behind by as many as 17 in the second half and then cut the lead to as small as three, but South Plains (16-7, 5-1) was able to hold off the women for its fifth straight win while snapping Howard’s (18-5, 3-4)streak at three.

“I thought a lot of it was a tribute to South Plains’ defense,” Howard coach Earl Diddle said. “They were very good (Thursday, and) I thought that we did not react very well to their switching defense. They’re a team good enough to win a conference title, and they proved it here.”

South Plains post Kelsey Canavan posted a double-double for the Lady Texans with 12 points and 12 rebounds. She had 10 and 10 against Howard in Levelland.

“She was huge,” Lady Texans coach Michelle Wyatt said. “She’s so big inside and she’s gotten so much better as the season has gone on.”

Sajoyia Griffin and Christen McLee scored 11 points apiece for the Lady Texans, but when it came down to it, South Plains was better in the paint.

“We had a very difficult time inside,” Diddle said. “We’re more ball-oriented than man-oriented. That’s been the story all year.”

Kenyatta Colbert and Tasha Tubbs scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. They were the only Hawks in double figures.

“I don’t think we got very good shots,” Diddle said. We weren’t energized offensively ... We hit some shots that were kind of questionable that got us back in the game, we just didn’t have enough juice to finish it out.”

The Hawks traded baskets with South Plains for the first 17 minutes of the first half, with neither team leading by more than four. A 6-0 run in the last three minutes gave South Plains a 26-17 advantage at halftime, with four of those points coming on Canavan putbacks.

South Plains came out of the locker room with another 6-0 run to open the second half, giving the Lady Texans a 17-point lead with as many minutes to go. However, the Hawks made a 9-0 run of their own at the 13 minute mark and a 6-0 run with five minutes left to trim the lead to three with three minutes remaining.

From there, the South Plains defense clamped down, allowing just one bucket the remainder of the game, which came with six minutes left and Howard down 10 points.

“It’s tough to lose at home,” Diddle said. “I thought it would be a good game, but it’s tough to lose this one.”

The Hawks will try to get back on track in Hobbs, N.M., on Monday as they take on New Mexico JC.

Notes: Shayla Lassien and MaKayla Grahn were back in action for the first time since the season’s early-going, returning from injuries. Lassien played just more than one minute, and Grahn played almost four minutes.