The Master's women's basketball team held the Park-Gilbert Buccaneers to just 2 of 28 shooting from behind the 3-point line to win 68-43 Thursday night in The MacArthur Center.
The win marked the fourth in a row and the third time in those four games the Lady Mustangs defense held their opponent to less than 50 points.
TMU (11-6, 7-1) entered the game ranked No. 10 in the country in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 54.3 point per game.
Master's opened up a 16-3 lead in the first quarter, finishing those first 10 minutes up 25-11
"The difference was our first quarter," said TMU Head Coach Fonda Wilson. We started well and brought a lot of energy."
That 14-point lead improved to a 19-point difference midway through the second quarter before settling for a 38-22 halftime advantage.
The defense turned it up to 11 in the third quarter, holding the Buccaneers to just six points for the period and opening up a 25-point lead. PGU came into the game No. 1 in the conference averaging 8.5 3-pointers per game, But the Lady Mustangs defense only allowed a pair of treys in the game.
The lead stayed 25 at the final buzzer.
The relentless defense created 17 steals for TMU and a total of 25 Buccaneer turnovers.
"Steals are game changers and gave us so much momentum," Coach Wilson said.
Allie Miller led Master's with 17 points and added nine rebounds and seven assists.
"
Allie Miller... really stood out for us tonight," Coach Wilson said. She was ready from the get go. Definitely a spark for us."
All VanKooten had 14 points and also pulled down nine rebounds.
Chloe Auble scored 12 and
Kylin DeVries added 11.
The Master's will host Benedictine Mesa on Saturday, with the tip-off scheduled for 12 noon.
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