The Mexico girls had already squandered a halftime lead once at home this week.

Mexico vs Bowling Green Photo Gallery

That wasn’t going to happen again on Thursday at Gary Filbert Court when the Lady Bulldogs defeated Bowling Green 59-33. Mexico’s 32-16 halftime lead grew to almost 30 points in the second half and was peskier on the defensive end with 13 steals.

Mexico (5-8) wasn’t as pesky and effective on the offensive end on Tuesday against North Central Missouri Conference arch rival Fulton when the Lady Bulldogs only scored 16 points following a 17-point first quarter to lose 36-33. The Lady Bulldogs let Bowling Green (4-9) have it too in the first quarter with an 18-9 lead after one, but head coach Makenzie Mudd said they maintained that energy throughout the game.

"We talked about continuing whatever energy we had in the first half into the second half," Mudd said. "Don't be comfortable with the lead that we have. Let's grow it, and let's keep working together and make opportunities for each other. Making opportunities for each other is really what sparked us in the second half."

Jo Thurman seemed to have a brimming amount of energy since the senior affected several areas of the game for Mexico. Thurman finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and seven steals and scored all of her points after the first quarter.

The Lady Bulldogs needed those points as their offense mirrored Tuesday to a certain degree as leading scorer Claire Hudson had another hot start. Hudson scored 16 of her game-high 23 points before cooling off a bit, but Mexico didn’t lose its lead by closing the first half with a 10-2 run. Thurman and Grace Hudson, who finished with 13 points and three 3-pointers, each had five points during that run.

“On Tuesday, we got a little nervous and thought, ‘Oh, we can fix it all with one shot,’” Mudd said. “Tonight, we spent more time moving the ball around, setting screens for each other and creating opportunities where multiple people could score.”

Thurman said that being on the same page on defense helped stall Bowling Green much of the night, holding the Lady Bobcats to one double-digit scorer in Kaylyn Charlton and her 11 points. 

“Their eyes really showed where they were going to pass the ball,” Thurman said. “Learning that and knowing what they were going to run really helped and communicating that with my team helped them too. Working together really made a difference.”

Thurman accounted for about half of Mexico’s steals as she could be seen frequently flying around, either coming away with a steal or deflecting a pass out of bounds. She even fell to the floor after a steal near the scorer’s table, laying on her stomach for a moment. After thinking initially she tweaked her ankle, Thurman can laugh that off now since she was fine and can continue being vigilant on defense.

“My hands just move with the ball and I kept tipping it and it just kept going out of bounds,” Thurman said. “It just kept working, and I was really proud of everybody on our team.” 

During and after defensive plays, the Lady Bulldogs knew exactly what to do because of Thurman, Mudd said, and helped set up buckets for bench players like Ella Raines, Haley Perkins and Hannah Loyd.

“We talked the other day about her senior leadership ability and how she has such a strong presence on the court to lead the other players,” Mudd said. “We wanted to see more of that tonight. She brought that out and did a great job of helping the younger players and directing people where to go.”

Claire Hudson filled up her line in other areas besides scoring as she finished with 15 rebounds, four blocks and four 3-pointers. Mexico didn’t have a strong rebounding game on Tuesday against Fulton, but Mudd said Hudson was a big reason why the Lady Bulldogs didn’t fall behind on the glass this time.

“That was a point of ours too,” Mudd said. “Let’s outrebound, especially offensively try to get more second-chance opportunities because we didn’t get those last game.”

When it is all put together, Thurman said the Lady Bulldogs can be proud of this performance and try to maintain this level of play in the future.

“We played together, we passed together and we moved together as the transition was way better than it has been all season,” Thurman said. “This was probably our best game so far.”

Mexico opens the Warrenton Girls Tournament at 5:30 p.m. Monday as the fifth seed against No. 4 seed and Class 6 school Francis Howell North (6-5).