Master's claims Opening Round title, advances to Sioux City

Second-seeded TMU Women's Basketball overcame a sluggish offensive first half to defeat 10th-seeded Southern Oregon University in the Newhall Bracket championship of the NAIA Opening Round, 66-53, on Saturday night inside The MacArthur Center.
 
The Mustangs now advance as one of 16 teams to the NAIA National Championship in Sioux City, Iowa, set to take place March 17-22.
 
"Another gritty team win from this squad today," Master's Head Coach Lisa Zamroz said. "We got flustered in the first half but stayed the course to punch our ticket to Iowa."
 
Just like in Friday's win over UC Merced in its first game of the NAIA Opening Round, Master's trailed after the first quarter.
 
Except this time Master's also found itself behind going into halftime, after Southern Oregon held the Mustangs to their lowest-scoring first half of the season.
 
Trailing 21-25 after two quarters, TMU rounded into form in the second half, helped by its two All-Golden State Athletic Conference selections.
 
Ella Brubaker asserted herself straight out of the locker room, drawing a foul just 12 seconds into the second half before sinking both free throws. She scored the first five points of the second half, with Stephanie Soares following that up with a jumper, as part of TMU's 7-0 run to take the lead.
 
Brubaker and Soares combined for 18 of TMU's 20 points in the quarter and 35 of the team's 45 points in the second half.
 
"Ella and Steph got going in the open court after half and made big plays slashing to the basket in space," Zamroz said.
 
Master's nearly matched its entire first half total in the third quarter alone, doubling the Raiders in the period, 20-10.
 
Taking a six-point lead into the final stanza, TMU didn't let SOU get any closer than five the rest of the way.
 
A Rebekah Throns triple put the Mustangs up by double digits just over halfway into the fourth, a margin they extended further before winning by a final margin of 13.
 
TMU's second-half surge allowed Master's to hoist its second trophy on its home court in as many weeks, after the Mustangs also won the GSAC Tournament title on Feb. 26.
 
Throns helped the Mustangs stay within striking distance in the first half, scoring eight of her 13 points and grabbing seven of her nine rebounds. She then turned into a distributor in the second half, dishing out six of her game-high seven assists.
 
"Bekah was clutch all game," Zamroz said.
 
The first-year head coach also highlighted the play of guards Tristen Gardner and Giani Wimbish-Gay in helping the Mustangs get out of the Raiders' trap defense, as well as the contributions from TMU's bench.
 
"Tristen and Giani gave us a great one-two punch handling their guard pressure," Zamroz said. "We got great minutes defensively from Olivia Prettyman, Madeline Cooke, Lexi Hernandez and Allyson Pettit.
 
"The unity and togetherness of our bench was critical in helping pull us out of our slump."
 
Master's (31-3 overall) will now take on third-seeded Indiana Wesleyan University in the Round of 16 on Friday at 6 p.m. PST / 8 p.m. CST.
 
The winner of that game will advance to Saturday's quarterfinals (6 p.m. PST / 8 p.m. CST) with the semifinals and finals scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, March 21 and 22.