Women's basketball makes the extra pass in win over Pomona-Pitzer

Anyone inside the MacArthur Center on Saturday evening would attest that The Master's University women's basketball team appreciates the art of the extra pass. The ball zipped around the perimeter, making regular detours into the painted area only to be flung back outside for open looks, many of which the Mustangs buried.

"We have so much confidence in each other that part of us wants to give it to the other person because we know they can hit it," said senior Brooke Bailey, who finished with 12 points in the Mustangs' 77-57 win over Pomona-Pitzer, TMU's 15th straight home victory dating to last season.

Almost all of the Mustangs' field goals on the night were assisted, and the primary beneficiary, at least in the fourth quarter, was Stephanie Soares. The sophomore center scored nine of her game-high 22 points in the final period, and she recorded her fourth double-double in as many games with 12 rebounds.

The Mustangs led by 10 at half and by nine after three, but they put the game away with 29 fourth-quarter points.

Bailey said a key component of TMU's highest scoring quarter of the young season was feeding the ball inside to its first-team NAIA All-American center.

"We found Steph and that was a huge part of it," said Bailey, who made three of TMU's 11 three-pointers. "… So many good things happen when we get the ball to her. The inside-out game suits our team so well."

Soares, however, credited the Mustangs' defense for sparking the surge. Master's compiled three steals, two blocks and six forced turnovers in the fourth. In the game, the Mustangs scored 24 points off takeaways and limited the Sagehens to 37% shooting.

"We were able to trust each other on defense. I think that was the key," Soares said, adding, "We know that everyone has their own jobs and spots, and just like they trust that I'm protecting the key and Anika (Neuman) is defending the left or right side, everyone has their own job."

Neuman finished with 10 points, while Rebekah Throns added nine points and four assists.

Nineteen of the Mustangs' 24 field goals were assisted, and five different players had at least three assists.