In more than a decade as Master's women's basketball head coach,
Dan Waldeck had never before guided his team through a two-game stretch quite like this one: three days, two opponents withÂ
completely different styles of play.Â
On Saturday, the No. 3-ranked Mustangs beat an Olivet Nazarene team that furiously pressured on defense and played at a breakneck pace on offense. Â
On Monday, the second and final day of the Jersey Mike's Holiday Classic, the University of Alberta entered the MacArthur Center with what was, across the board, the tallest team the Mustangs had faced all year. Â
Eight Panda players stood at least 6-feet tall. Eleven were at least 5-11, the kind of consistent height that could pose a challenge even against a TMU front line of 6-6
Stephanie Soares and forwards
Anika Neuman and
Rebekah Throns.
Demonstrating an impressive level of adaptability, Master's matched the Pandas' physicality on the way to an 80-46 win.
TMU (15-0), which is off to its best start since 2012-2013, has won 19 straight home games and will return to Golden State Athletic Conference play Saturday at TMU against Hope International. Game time is 5:30 p.m.
"Our team's ability to adjust was outstanding from one game to the next. Really proud of them," said Waldeck, adding, "It's extremely encouraging to see us do it on short rest, out of a break, to play two good teams and be so locked in."
Soares led all scorers with 21 points. She added 10 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the year to go with four blocks.
Brooke Bailey made a trio of first-half three-pointers on the way to 13 points, and
Sabrina Thompson added 10 points.
Two days after matching the energy level of Olivet, which entered the tournament averaging 105.4 points per game and 20.3 steals, the Mustangs did not let down against Alberta, even if the game's pace was considerably slower.
TMU's vaunted zone defense swarmed to the ball, and the Mustangs crashed the glass to the tune of 16 offensive rebounds.
The Pandas, who are affiliated with U SPORTS in Canada, not the NAIA, shot 34% from the floor and 23% from distance.
"We gained a ton of valuable experience playing against two completely different styles," said Mustang guard
Hannah Ostrom, who contributed four points, four assists and five steals. "Playing against Olivet's press for 40 minutes showed our full-court game and allowed us to run more than we usually do. Playing against Alberta showed that we can handle the physicality they brought."
Ostrom added that the two different styles allowed the Mustangs to practice different aspects of their zone defense.
"Olivet's strength was their outside shooting so we had to really extend our zone," she said. "Alberta tends to score from inside the paint, which allowed us to sink in a little more."
The Mustangs tallied 15 steals in all Monday.
Tristen Coltom had three to go with six points.
Soares scored 15 of her points in the first half, finishing around the rim and stepping out for midrange jumpers and one three. Master's led 46-22 at the break. A big reason was its defense.
"Our defense felt completely in sync," said Thompson. "I could point out each person's phenomenal defense, but it was just a solid team effort from everybody."
At the other end, the Mustangs took exceptionally good care of the ball (nine turnovers, three before halftime) and benefited from eight three pointers – four from Bailey.
"She does a great job of balancing her three-point shots and also being able to drive for an assist or jump shot," Soares said of Bailey.
The key to so few turnovers?
"I think the girls did a great job today of being composed and handling the physicality by scoring inside the lane," Soares said.
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