The Master's women's basketball team used a strong first quarter and fought off a furious finish in their 76-68 win over Cumberland University (TN) Friday night in Henderson, Tenn.
The Lady Mustangs (3-1) jumped out to a 21-9 lead at the end of the first quarter on 9 of 20 shooting and an 18-5 rebounding advantage in those first 10 minutes.
TMU finished the game hitting 29 of 60 (48%) from the field and a 45-31 rebounding difference over the Phoenix. TMU's defense held Cumberland to 37% from the field for the game.
"We will take the win! Especially on the road," said TMU Head Coach Fonda Wilson. "I'm glad they fought through."
After the strong first quarter, the two teams split the second period 17-17 to give The Master's a 38-26 lead at the half.
Cumberland made the right adjustments at the half and came out strong in the third quarter, out-scoring the Lady Mustangs 24-14 in the period to draw to within two.
But TMU went on an 11-3 run to open the final 10 minutes to get back to a double-digit lead at 63-53. The Phoenix fought back and got to within three, but one final 8-0 run by The Master's put the game out of reach with 1:49 to play and enable the Lady Mustangs to get the 8-point win.
Marin Lenz finished with a team-high 23 points while
Alli VanKooten scored 18 and pulled down seven rebounds.
Kelly Mathiesen added 12 points on 5 of 6 shooting from the field.
The Master's will play the host Freed-Hardeman on Saturday with the tip-off scheduled for 2 p.m. PT.
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