Scottsdale—The South Plains College Lady Texans fell to the Mesa Lady Thunderbirds 48-45 Tuesday afternoon at the Bill Culver Memorial Classic in Arizona.

Elizabeth Cera finished with 11 points for South Plains, while Dabraisia Baty and Jasmyne Martin each scored eight. Sujei Cera totaled five points for the Lady Texans, and Ramiah Henry and Yanina Inkina each had four points.

South Plains forced Mesa to shoot just 30 percent from the field in the first half and took a 26-19 lead into the half after the first 20 minutes. The second half saw both teams battle on each end of the floor and trade buckets throughout the final two quarters of regulation.

Mesa was able to grab the lead late in the fourth quarter and escape with a three-point win. Despite Tuesday's loss, South Plains head coach Cayla Petree knows it was a game between two quality programs that will only make each team that much tougher as the season progresses.

"It was a tough one today, but we have a lot of respect for Mesa and they have a very good program year in and year out," Petree said. "Their zone defense just gave us a lot of trouble against our motion offense, and I think after the break we came out stagnant and flat, and you just can't do that against good teams.

"We'll bounce with two more games in the next two days, and then we head back home for another non-conference game before jumping right back into the conference. We just have to get back and get ready and continue to keep getting better everyday."