Madeline Cooke became an unbeatable force in the low post as The Master's women's basketball team overcame a tough third quarter to come from behind and defeat the William Jessup Warriors 66-62 Saturday in Rocklin, Calif.
Cooke pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds, added three blocks and three steals to get the Lady Mustangs (11-4, 4-3) to the win. That defense was the key to the win as The Master's struggled to put the ball through the hoop, shooting 24-of-62 (39%) from the field (4-of-19 from 3-point range). But WJU was held to 22-of-59 (37%), 5-of-20 from 3.
"Cooke had the game of her career," said Head Coach Lisa Zamroz. "She was absolute nails in the paint. She showed a ton of toughness and poise. It had a huge impact on our momentum. Our primary focus for this weekend has been energy. Switching our focus from whether or not the offense is flowing to consistent energy and effort defensively."
TMU had a 36-31 lead at the half, led by
Marin Lenz scoring 10 points in the second quarter alone on 5-of-7 shooting. That lead fell apart by the end of the third quarter as The Master's could only hit four of their 15 shots, allowing WJU to take the lead 49-47.
That's when
Ella Brubaker took over. The sophomore All-American from last season went 3-for-4 from the field in the final 10 minutes, including a pair of 3-pointers, and added 4-of-5 from the free throw line to score 12 in the quarter and lift the Lady Mustangs to their 11th win of the season.
"Ella struggled in the first half but stayed mentally tough through it and hit back-to-back threes to put us back in the lead in the fourth," Zamroz said.
Lenz finished with a team-high 19 points, followed by 16 for Brubaker and 15 from Belle Hernandez.
Lexi Hernandez added 12 rebounds for her sixth game this season pulling down double-digit boards.
"Our will to win was collective from top to bottom," said Zamroz. "That's our best win of this season because of the way we won that one. They hit five 3s in the first half and we held them to 0% in the second, led by Belle's effort against their hot hand (Andrea Jovicevic). Belle played clean up around the rim and Marin never took her foot off the gas. I feel like I could highlight each player as it was just such a team win."
The road journey continues this Thursday as the Lady Mustangs will take on San Diego Christian in El Cajon. Tip-off is 5:30 p.m.
