Belle Hernandez scored 25 points as The Master's women's basketball team opened their 2023-24 season with a convincing 81-43 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Thursday night in The MacArthur Center.
Hernandez went 8-for-13 from the field, including 5-for-6 from 3-point range and 4-for-6 from the free throw line, plus she added 10 rebounds to start her senior season with a double-double.
As a team the Lady Mustangs (1-0) were 30-for-60 (50%) from the field and 13-for-29 (45%) from behind the arc. TMU also out-rebounded the Athenas 48-24.
But it was the defense that truly flexed it's opening-night muscle. The Master's held CMS to just five points in the first quarter while scoring 21. And then in the third quarter, TMU held the Athenas to just nine points while pouring in 25. For the game, CMS shot just 13-of-49 (26%).
"What a great showing to kick off the season," said TMU Head Coach Lisa Zamroz. "It's hard to highlight just a few players because our collective group played so well and unselfishly, highlighted by assisting on 25 of 30 makes."
Lexi Hernandez earned a double-double as well, scoring 13 points and collecting 11 rebounds. Â She also led the team with seven assists.
Maddie Cooke picked up where she left off last season with a team-high three blocks. The senior led the GSAC last season with 53 blocks and is currently 7th all-time in program history with 111 in her career.
Another bright spot was the work of the five freshman to the team. Everyone scored, led by
Nicole Chuang's seven points.
Abbie Mullins and Chuang each hit a pair of 3-pointers, with
Laney Grider and
Allie Miller making their debut three as well. Fellow freshman
Chloe Auble added two points to complete the fab freshman five's finish.
 "We had seven different players connect from 3-point range tonight," Zamroz said. "That makes everything much easier. It's always a gift to see your team enjoying the game and each other's success."
Perhaps the only downside to the game were the turnovers. The Master's tallied 17 that directly resulted in 17 points.
"We got ahead of ourselves a bit at times, which gave them opportunity to convert off our turnovers," Zamroz said. "We'll look to tighten that up as we hit the road next week."
The Master's will head to Idaho next Thursday when they take on College of Idaho at 6 p.m. Then it's an exhibition game against NCAA Division I Boise State on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
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