Baty's 15 points leads No. 8 Lady Texans past Clarendon 70-53 Monday Night

CLARENDON—Sophomore guard Dabrasia Baty wanted to see a different mentality on the defensive end from her team in the second half.

Carrying just a two-point lead in the locker room after two quarters, the No. 8 Lady Texans showed their true colors in the final 20 minutes, outscoring Clarendon 45-30 in the second half en rout to a 70-53 conference road win at the Bulldog Gymnasium on Monday night.

"I was really just focused on trying to get my teammates involved," said Baty, who finished the contest with 15 points and eight assists. "I was just really trying to get my team going and focus on me later. We came out really slow in the first half. We had to come out and pick up our defense, and that's what really made the change for us on offense. We just need to come out every game and work hard and keep grinding."

The Lady Texans used that defensive pressure to create opportunities on the offensive end, placing four scorers in double digits. Jasauen Beard finished with 15 points and seven boards, while Nia Mims was 3-of-4 from the 3-point line and finished the contest with 11 points. Brittany Smith bucketed 10 points, three assists and two steals for South Plains who shot 47 percent from the field and 40 percent from the perimeter over 40 minutes.

"They stuck around with us for the majority of the first half, and I was really glad we were able to come out strong in the second half and get the win," Smith said. "We brought more energy in the second half, and it all started on defense. Once we started getting some steals and getting to the line, we ended up scoring the way we wanted to. It's always an advantage for us to be winning, but it also means everyone else is coming for our heads. It's a challenge every night, but I think that's going to help us down the road."

Clarendon's Mia Castaneda led all scorers with 19 points in 32 minutes of action. Daijah Henry, Chauntel Ascosta and Rae'Shawn Jones each finished with eight points for the Lady Bulldogs, while Lizet Sosa chipped in five. Clarendon would go on to shoot just 29 percent from the floor in the contest.

South Plains received 22 points off the bench and showcased a dominant presence on the glass, outrebounding the Lady Bulldogs 32-25 resulting in 12 second chance points. The Lady Texans combined for 18 points in the paint and went on to lead by as much as 19 midway through the fourth quarter.

Now 19-3 on the year and 4-2 in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference, the Lady Texans will look to continue their momentum on Jan. 30 when they travel to Western Texas College. Tipoff is set for 5:45 p.m. and can be watched live at spctexans.com using the 'Watch Games' tab at the top of the page.