Lady T-birds defeat Eastern by 46 points
Jonathon Smith
Mesa’s women’s basketball team put on a clinic against Eastern, cruising to a 98-52 victory.
The Lady T-birds dominated every aspect of the game. They played tough defense and scored at will.
Despite a dominant first half performance that resulted to a 25 point lead, the Thunderbirds didn’t let up during the second half.
“At halftime we talked about trying to sustain the momentum we built in the first half. We have had a difficult time boxing out and rebounding this year, and coach told us to focus on it in the second half,” said freshman point guard, Briana Benjamin, after the game.
They responded to the challenge and did a good job controlling the paint. Mesa out-rebounded Eastern 36 to 26.
Mesa dominated the interior, scoring in the post at will. The Thunderbird’s made it a point to focus on getting the ball to the post players on the block.
“We’ve been working really hard on the entry to pass to the post. We did a really good job of getting our post players involved,” said Benjamin. “It definitely helps having three athletic bigs that can rebound and score.”
Power forwards, Jasmine Petit and Amber Bond, both had good games in the post for Mesa, scoring 12 and 14 respectively.
Prayer Branham was the leading scorer for Mesa, posting 20 points to go along with four assists and three steals.
This game was a great confidence builder as the Lady T-birds prepares to tackle the rest of the conference schedule.
Benjamin was excited about their play, and felt they could build on it.
“Our next game is against Central. They’re undefeated and a very good team that competes for the championship every year,” said Benjamin. “We lost to them by six points last time, but we definitely have the ability to beat them if we play tough.
