A big swing first half gave way to a very competitive second half as The Master's women's basketball team could not find late-game heroics in a 70-68 loss to Hope International Saturday night in The MacArthur Center.
The Lady Mustangs trailed by three points and had the ball with eight seconds on the clock. But a missed 3-point shot and a Royals rebound meant the Mustangs could only foul and hope. But Hope made the free throws, and despite a made 3-pointer by
Nicole Chuang at the buzzer, the win was already sealed.
The best news of the night, however, was the return of junior
Marin Lenz, who missed a game due to an injury. And though she didn't start, the team found its fuel when she entered the game. Lenz finished  with a game-high 24 points and pulled down nine rebounds.
"Huge game for Marin on her return to the court," said Head Coach Lisa Zamroz. "She really ignited us on both ends from the moment she subbed in."
While the loss drops the team to 2-3 in the GSAC, 15-4 overall, three of those four losses have been by four points or less.
"We keep finding ourselves in one possession games and ending up with the short straw," Zamroz said. "We know we are one bounce or one blockout away from our record looking much different. We continue to use that as fuel to finding a way to finish these tight games."
Turnovers cost the Lady Mustangs points in the first quarter, falling behind by eight points. But TMU became the benefactor of turnovers in the second frame when HIU committed eight to make it a 29-29 tie at the break.
The Royals shot 10 of 19 from the field in the third quarter, while holding TMU to 8 of 18, to go up by four going into the final 10 minutes of the game. And while The Master's was able to grab a thin one-point lead with 5:24 to play, it was the Royals who wrestled it back, going up by as much as six before holding on for the win.
Laney Grider finished with 16 points, while Maddie Cooke had a team-high 14 rebounds.
The Master's will now travel to Northern California for a pair of games, first against Menlo College on Thursday at 5:30, followed by Jessup University on Saturday at noon.
