There might not have been much breathing room in terms of the scoreboard for the Mexico girls on Wednesday night, but defense was a different story.

Mexico at Hallsville Photo Gallery

The Lady Bulldogs’ district foe Hallsville was feeling the pressure for much of the night and was a big reason why Mexico won 45-41 on the road for a season-high third straight victory. Mexico pushed its lead to as big as 10 points to close the first quarter but kept the Lady Indians down with 19 steals and a 20-of-29 clip at the free-throw line.

Claire Hudson led Mexico with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds but had four of the team’s steals. Her sister, Grace Hudson, added 14 points and four steals while Jo Thurman tallied nine steals. The Lady Bulldogs played two games last week at the Warrenton Tournament because of the winter weather and won both of them, according to Claire Hudson, after freezing out opposing offensive possessions much like they did against Hallsville.

"Our press really worked," Claire Hudson said. "We've come together well on the press the last couple games because last week we did really well and had lots of steals in those games too.  When the other teams can't dribble, that's our go-to, and it's been working for us."

Hallsville hung around throughout the game due to eight 3-pointers and a bulk of offensive rebounds grasped from its 44 total boards. The Lady Indians were ahead 7-6 after Ellie Schisler knocked down one of her two 3-pointers but then trailed before they knew what hit them.

Claire Hudson hit Mexico’s lone 3-pointer before the turnovers turned into offense as Karlee Sefrit, Grace Hudson and Kenley Jones all finished at the other end for a 17-7 Mexico lead after the first quarter. Claire and Grace Hudson each finished with four personal fouls, but the only player to foul out was a Lady Indian.

“We struggled a little bit at the beginning to figure out our rotations on the press,” head coach Makenzie Mudd said. “Once we started rotating, covering the middle and communicating with each other, we were able to feed off of each other. We were talking and pointing out cutters, and that’s what forced a lot of their turnovers and got them frustrated to give us those opportunities to score.”

Mudd admitted that the Lady Bulldogs “flattened out” in the second quarter as Hallsville battled back to a 20-19 deficit at halftime. Easing off the press at that time helped in the second half by giving Mexico energy to hold off the Lady Indians.

Hallsville knocked down three 3-pointers in the second quarter to do decent damage to Mexico's margin and added four more in the second half. The Lady Bulldogs only allowed one other field goal in the latter half of the game.

“We were getting really excited and closing out on one side, but we weren’t moving quick enough on the reversal,” Mudd said. “That’s something we talked about, and by the end, we got a lot better at that backside reversal, closing out and getting in their face a little and making them think twice about shooting.”

Mudd said that defensive adjustment helped secure the victory, but Mexico’s frequency and effectiveness at the free-throw line was a must. Much of Mexico’s offense was through fastbreaks off turnovers rather than the half-court, which usually turned into free shots for the Lady Bulldogs.

Taking most of those shots were the Hudson sisters since Grace went 12-for-16 and Claire was 7-for-10. Each of their scoring numbers were padded at the line but were still earned with aggressive play.

"The girls that happened to be defending Grace at the end were the ones that were getting a little bit closer and getting those little touch fouls," Mudd said. "Claire was taking the ball into the paint a lot more. Jo was doing a good job of hitting them on the reversals so they could get those opportunities."

Haley Martin led Hallsville with nine points and two 3-pointers. The Lady Indians have two imposing post players in Clara Quintana and Emily Stockamp that were responsible for much of the rebounds while combining for 13 points, but this lineup opens up some weaknesses too.

“I knew they weren’t the quickest team so attacking the paint was going to be my thing,” Hudson said. “Once I started fouling early on, I just kept driving and attacking to get to the line.”

To counter Hallsville swallowing up rebounds to a 21-13 advantage after one half, Mudd had Hannah Loyd play most of the second half. That paid off in the form of eight rebounds from her off the bench. The Lady Bulldogs finished with 34 rebounds.

“When I had her out there in the first half, she did a good job of exploding to the ball, leading those passes and getting a lot of steals and rebounds,” Mudd said. “I left her out there a lot in that second half because I feel like her energy was something we needed at that point.”

Mexico moved its record to district opponents to 3-1, including some wins against North Central Missouri Conference foes Fulton and Kirksville. The Hallsville victory benefitted Mexico as the games eventually become more important.

“It was a good, tough game for our mental game also, having to fight through to the end,” Mudd said. “That’s something we can hopefully carry over into the rest of the season.”