No. 16 Lady Texans cruise by Eastern Arizona 71-48 on Saturday in Arizona

THATCHER, Arizona — The No. 16 South Plains College women's basketball team pummeled Eastern Arizona College 71-48 on Saturday at the Eastern Arizona Classic to pick up their first win of the year.

South Plains' Gabbie Green led all scorers with 19 points on 6 of 10 shooting from the floor and was 3 of 6 from the 3-point line. Freshman Alexis Popham chipped in 16 points for the Lady Texans(1-1) on 5 of 8 shooting and was 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Mikayla Kuehne finished with nine points and four boards for South Plains, while Chantel Govan finished with eight and Chelsea Hunter bucketed seven points and pulled in nine boards.

"We were trying to focus on good shots and getting each other involved," Green said. "We came out and tried to play hard on both ends of the floor and help each other out. We really focused on moving the ball and tried to find the best shot possible so we could finish at the basket on each possession."

South Plains shot 50 percent from the field and 46 percent from behind the arc in the first half to take a 47-25 lead into the break. The Lady Texans outscored their counterpart 24-10 in the second quarter, part of an 18-2 first-half run.  

"I tried to stay aggressive on the back side and play hard every minute, and that was a mentality I tried to have from the beginning of the game," Hunter said. "We didn't come out as strong in the second half yesterday, but today we came out like we were the losing team and were able to play that much tougher. We have a big game on Tuesday and we need to keep getting better and prepare for each opponent."

Eastern Arizona(1-1) was held to just seven points in the third quarter as the Lady Texans forced 21 turnovers in the contest, resulting in 24 points on the offensive end. South Plains won the battle on the glass outrebounding the Lady Monsters 41-34. The Lady Texans knocked down 10 3s and went 15-for-21 from the charity stripe.

"I thought the girls did a great job of recognizing the rotations of their zone and we had great ball movement," South Plains head coach Cayla Petree said. "Chantel went down with an ankle sprain late in the first half, and Gabbie and Chelsea stepped up and really played well for us. They played the entire second half and had great production and shot high percentage shots. It's always a good feeling after a win, and the progress we're starting to see is nice and they're starting to play together and get comfortable with each other."

The Lady Texans will return to the hardwood on Tuesday, Nov. 7 when they host Garden City Community College at 5:30 p.m. at the Texan Dome.