The Mustang women's basketball team was rolling in Rocklin on Thursday, closing its time at the Bill Holtz Warrior Classic by burying 12 three-pointers en route to an 82-60 victory over Oregon Tech.
The victory over the Owls, ranked No. 21 in NAIA Division 2, capped the regular season's opening weekend for the NAIA Division 1 No. 4 Mustangs, who improved to 2-0.
"This was a great road trip for us," said Mustang head coach
Dan Waldeck. "We were able to gain two victories against two quality opponents. Oregon Tech shot extremely well, but I'm proud of how we hung in, shared the ball and played composed."
Stephanie Soares finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. She went 8 of 11 from the field and 6 of 9 from the line. But still, the story might have been a Mustang long-distance barrage that helped Master's build an early lead.
Anika Neuman finished the day 5 of 5 from three and 6 of 6 overall. She scored 17 points and drained two three-pointers in a first quarter where the Mustangs built a 22-11 lead.
The margin stayed in double figures throughout the second quarter with the Mustangs leading by as many as 20 points (46-26).
Neuman added another three-pointer in the quarter and
Olivia Prettyman came off the bench to drain one.
The outside game opened up the inside as the Mustangs converted seven layups in the quarter.
TMU led 46-28 at halftime.
Soares went to work in the third quarter, scoring 10 of her game-high 22 points.
Rebekah Throns, Neuman, and
Hannah Ostrom buried three-pointers in the quarter and the Mustangs led 67-41 after three.
Showing off their long-distance shooting one more time over the final 10 minutes, Neuman, Bailey, and Prettyman drained threes as the Mustangs cruised to the win.
The Mustangs went 12-of-25 from behind the arc.
Soares, who notched a jaw-dropping 29 double-doubles last season, made it two in as many days on Saturday when she added a game-high 11 rebounds to go with her point total.
Five other Mustangs scored at least six points.
"It was great to get everyone some needed game experience and see such quality contributions up and down the lineup," Waldeck said.
Starting the 2019-20 campaign with two road wins, the Mustangs return to Bross Court next Friday to open the home portion of their schedule against Northern New Mexico. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m..
