#7 Lady Texans give Mesa first loss of season with 70-57 victory on Thursday in Scottsdale

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona—Every win is to be celebrated. Quality wins are just that much sweeter.

The South Plains College Lady Texans picked up their 15th consecutive victory dating back to Nov. 4 following a 70-57 drumming over the previously unbeaten Mesa Community College Lady Thunderbirds on Thursday in the second round of the Bill Culver Memorial Classic at Scottsdale Community College.

"This was a really good team win against a really good basketball team," South Plains head coach Cayla Petree said. "I thought our efficiency throughout the entire 40 minutes was really good. We stress getting stops on defense and producing on offense. We didn't want to have any empty possessions. I thought we did a good job of sustaining our energy for the full 40 minutes."

South Plains' Elizabeth Cera knocked down seven 3s en route to a 23-point performance. Jasauen Beard scored in double figures for the 11th time this season as the sophomore from Midwest City, Oklahoma tallied 17 points for South Plains(15-1).

Yanina Inkina continues to be a consistent presence on the interior while showcasing the ability to produce from the outside as the 6-foot-1 sophomore from Belarus finished with 13 points on Thursday. Brittany Smith continues to be a defensive nightmare for opponents while giving the Lady Texans quality possessions on offense as the 5-foot-8 sophomore guard from Houston chipped in 12 points against the Lady Thunderbirds(9-1).

"We started off playing tough defensively and tried to limit the turnovers today," Beard said. "We just wanted to keep up our energy level. We have a tendency to get up on people and sometimes ease up and get comfortable. We knew this team was good and had the ability to comeback. We just had to match their mentality. We have to come out again tomorrow and do the same thing we showed tonight."

The Lady Texans will look to increase their win streak to 16 when they take on Scottsdale Community College at 1:45 p.m. MST on Friday. You can watch the Lady Texans live in Arizona at spctexans.com using the 'Watch Games' tab at the top of the homepage.