2009-2010 News

Louisiana Native Making Mark at WTC

Wykeia Sanders loves the experience of college life -- even if her day is structured with almost military precision.

The 6-2 freshman plays for the Western Texas College women’s basketball, and her day begins earlier than those of most college freshmen – including a healthy dose of motivation to get to class on time.

“Coach (Tammy) Davis stays on top of us – we are up at 6 a.m.,” Sander said. “We have to run if we are even a minute late to class.”

Sanders said she misses her family and friends, but isn’t pining for her hometown, which is roughly twice the size of Snyder. Her shopping trips there mirror her trips here – she heads out of town to shop at the larger big box stores and malls.

“We are about 30 minutes from Shreveport, so that’s where we go,” she said. “It’s about a seven hour drive to Snyder, and I was ready to go home when we got here. I got a little homesick, but now it’s cool – we keep in touch.”

She does, however, miss the food – seafood, and lots of it.

“Everything here has cheese in it,” she laughed. “We eat a lot of shrimp and crawfish and every year on my birthday we have a crawfish boil.”

One of seven brothers and sisters, Sanders was recruited by Davis to be a part of a revamped Lady Westerner roster this season and plans to stay through her sophomore year WTC.

“I would like to go on to play Division I and get my degree in physical therapy,” she said. “But I like just being here and playing ball and experiencing college life. I do wish I could go out more, though.”

The Lady Westerners will battle conference foe Odessa College at The Coliseum Thursday.

Lady Westerner signs Letter of Intent with Metro State College

Sophomore Lady Westerners basketball player Katarina Powdrell has signed a letter of intent to play for Metro State in Denver.

The sophomore forward from Albuquerque, N.M. will be transferring in August. She is eighth in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference in rebounds, averaging 5.3 per game.

“I’m very excited,” she said. “I’ve been there on a visit and it is really nice.”

The 5-11 Powdrell averaged 6.4 points and 7.1 rebounds as a freshman.  The 2008 graduate of Highland High School was a four-year letter winner in basketball and earned second team all-district honors as a senior.  She was also a member of the National Honor Society.

"Kat is off to a tremendous start this season for Western Texas and will only continue to improve throughout the year,” said Metro State College coach Linda Lappe in a statement on the school’s Web site. “We look for her to bring some maturity, size, and strength to our team next season.”

Powdrell was contacted by Metro State coaches over the summer and head coach Tammy Davis gave the Denver school game films to review. She said she continues to grow at WTC and will take away many lessons from her time at the college.

“My time here will definitely help me, especially with my school work as well as knowing how hard I have to work in basketball.”

WTC head coach Tammy Davis said she is excited for Powdrell to move on to Division II.

“We’re really proud of her and her accomplishments. She will be an asset to metro state – she will work hard, be responsible and take care of business,” Davis said. “She will be a plus to the program as a player and a person and we’re very excited for her.”

The Lady Westerns (6-4) have won four straight games and will resume play Dec. 28-30 at the Pima Tournament in Tucson, Ariz.