The Master's women's basketball team got a key win on the road Saturday when they defeated the Jessup Warriors 73-66 in Rocklin, Calif.
Despite shooting under 42%, it was the defense that turned it up. The Lady Mustangs (16-5, 3-4) held the Warriors to 39% from the field, won the rebound battle 45-26, snatched 10 steals and added six blocks.
"Our focus as of late has been to get back to who we are defensively," said TMU Head Coach Lisa Zamroz. "Our effort across the board was excellent. Holding them to 39% shooting was key. We shot great from three as well, which allowed us to create enough separation to withstand a few runs they made early in the third and late fourth quarter."
TMU hit 14 of 30 (47%) from 3-point range, with
Nicole Chuang hitting a career-high six shots from long-range.
After going down 17-14 at the end of the first quarter, the defensive pressure ramped up in the second 10 minutes, holding Jessup to just 3 of 9 from the field and 11 points for the quarter. TMU led 35-28 at the break.
Both teams came out of the locker room intent on scoring, with the Master's hitting 6 of 7 from behind the arc and 56% overall from the field. But Jessup did the Lady Mustangs a bit better, hitting better than 58% of their shots and also going 8 of 9 from the free throw line.
Still, thanks to those threes, The Master's led 61-52 going into the final quarter.
That's when the TMU defense really stood out, holding the Warriors to 5 of 24 (21%) from the field. Under a barrage of shots and offensive rebounds, the Lady Mustangs defense was bolstered by three blocks from Maddie Cooke to help preserve the seven-point win.
"The team was committed to getting ourselves back on track with a win today heading into round two of conference," Zamroz said.
The Master's will be back in The MacArthur Center Thursday night when they host the Vanguard Lions. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.
