DALLAS – It was a tale of two games for the River City Lady Thunder Friday.

The Lady Thunder split their doubleheader in the second day of the 2016 PrimeTime Sports National Championship losing the to the Arkansas Lady Bears 54-21 and beating the JAWS Skillz Lady Tigers 58-36.

Through the first three games, the Lady Thunder (2-1) earned a second seed in pool play beginning Saturday, tentatively against the DC Queens at 12:50 p.m.

Against the Lady Bears, the Lady Thunder endured another sluggish start yielding a 24-7 halftime deficit.

“They were so much bigger than us,” Lady Thunder coach Julius Cosby said. “They came out and got a couple of easy buckets and our girls shut it down.”

Cocoa Fultz ushered her team out of the hole scoring all 12 of her points in the second half. The Lady Thunder climbed within nine points of the lead before a timeout from the Lady Bears interrupted their flow.

Shots simply weren’t falling in the River City’s favor, specifically layups and points in the paint against a taller team.

“We got the ball in the middle were we could shoot it, but the length bothered us,” Cosby said. “We really don’t have too much shooting outside. We weren’t playing like we know how to play.”

After being obliterated in the first game, Cosby did something unusual to begin the second game.

“We pressed the whole game,” he said.

And it’s hard to argue with his unorthodox decision, which led to a 34-20 halftime cushion.

At halftime, they collectively decided they were 20 points better than their opponent and proved it with a 22-point edge.

Madison Parish’s Terrica Williams and Kenzee McCoy led the team in scoring with 14 each.

Fultz followed that up with another 13-point performance.

While the Lady Bears and the Lady Tigers were both more physical and taller than the Lady Thunder, the difference in the games came down to confidence.

“The first game we were more intimated since the team was so big. We really can’t score unless were running,” Cosby said. “The second game we’re able to make some shots and set our press. Basically our defense helped our offense in the second game.”

Other than in practices leading up to the tournament, Cosby has never watched the childhood friends of McCoy, Williams and her twin sister play.

He’s working on meshing their skills and talents with those of whom he’s used to seeing in the Warren Central players on the team.

“I have to try and mix-and-match to make all of them fit sometimes and get the most out of them. The girls can play I just have to figure out how to make them play together,” he said. “They look real comfortable getting to spots they can be successful.”