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GSAC Tournament Bracket]
On paper, The Master's University women's basketball team entered Saturday's NAIA Division 1 top-10 matchup with a historically stingy defense.
Then for 40 minutes, the Mustangs proceeded to perform a live-action demonstration of how good they can be on the end of the court where they firmly hang their hat.
No. 4 Master's beat No. 7 Vanguard 59-46, avenging a loss from earlier this season and securing a first round bye in next week's Golden State Athletic Conference tournament at Westmont.
The Mustangs (28-2, 16-2 GSAC) also matched the program's record for wins in a season, a number it hopes to surpass in Santa Barbara on Friday when it plays in a GSAC semifinal.
Master's will face the winner of Menlo (13-14, 9-9) and Vanguard (22-5, 14-4) at 1:30 p.m. Â
"For us, it just means that the Lord has allowed us to continue to find success this season," point guard
Sabrina Thompson said of TMU reaching 28 wins for the fourth time in program history. "We are absolutely not done giving our best and letting the results handle themselves."
Anika Neuman led the Mustangs with 15 points,
Stephanie Soares had 12 points and 20 rebounds and Thompson added nine points and five assists.
But it was TMU's energy and commitment to defense that set the tone. Vanguard scored eight points in the first quarter and shot 35% for the game. On the year, Master's has held 29 of its 30 opponents below 40% shooting.
"The team's energy on defense was extremely high the entire game," Thompson said. "We didn't take any plays off and we made every hustle play."
That's been the case for most of the year. Entering Saturday, only three NAIA Division 1 teams since 2003-04 have finished a season holding opponents to a worse field goal percentage than these Mustangs.
Master's has allowed teams to shoot 31.6%, a number bettered by only Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) in 2008-09, and both Oklahoma City University and Master's last season.
"It's been our collective effort and belief in both our systems and each other's strengths," said Master's head coach
Dan Waldeck.
Saturday, Waldeck highlighted the work of his perimeter defenders, a group that limited the Lions to 3-of-14 shooting from behind the arc.
The Mustangs had 10 steals, and Vanguard turned the ball over 16 times in all.
"Our middle positions on defense are always our anchor," Waldeck said. "But when our perimeter plays like that, it makes our rim protectors' jobs less complicated."
The Mustangs led 30-19 at halftime and by as many as 18 in the second half.
It helped that Master's made as many three-pointers in Saturday's first 20 minutes (five) as it had in its previous two games combined.
In a Jan. 23 meeting with Vanguard, the Mustangs made only two of their 17 three-point tries. But that was only half the story in a one-point loss, TMU's first of the year. The Lions physicality rattled the Mustangs, something that wasn't true Saturday.
"We were a different team tonight," Neuman said. "We focused on the little things this time and made them play our game, not the other way around. Our energy was awesome too and that makes a huge difference."
Rebekah Throns scored eight points for Master's, and
Hannah Ostrom contributed seven.
Brooke Bailey matched a career-high with four steals. Â
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