Behind 21 points from senior Belle Hernandez, The Master’s University women’s basketball team opened conference play with a 76-53 win over the Life Pacific Warriors Thursday in The MacArthur Center.

The Mustangs (13-1, 1-0 GSAC) shot better than 42% from the field and held the Warriors to just 8 of 30 (26.7%) from the field in the second half.

“A great team win to start the beginning of conference play,” TMU Head Coach Lisa Zamroz said. “We took care of the ball and played really unselfishly. Coming off a great few wins in Arizona before Christmas, it’s sometimes hard to match that energy coming back from seeing family and having down time. These girls are hungry though, and we’re excited to see what the Lord has for us this semester and continuing to enjoy the journey.”

After giving up the lead with 6:01 to play in the first quarter, the Lady Mustangs went on a 13-6 run to closeout the quarter with an 18-14 lead. TMU then broke it open in the second frame, outscoring LPU 25-13 in the quarter to take a 43-27 lead into the locker room.

“They spread us out a little bit in the first quarter and capitalized inside,” Zamroz said. “Our team responded well in the second (quarter) defensively alongside some timely threes to give us a buffer heading to halftime.”

The Master’s won each successive quarter as well to finish with the 23-point win. TMU also controlled the glass with a 45-31 advantage and added nine blocks.

Lexi Hernandez, finished with 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Her sister Belle and Maddie Cooke added eight boards each, with Cooke adding three more blocks to her nation-leading total of 45.

The Master’s will now have their next three conference games on the road, beginning with this Saturday night’s game against Vanguard to be played at Orange Coast College. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.