A strong fourth quarter broke a third quarter tie as The Master’s University women’s basketball team defeated the OUAZ Spirit 75-68 in Surprise, Ariz.

The Lady Mustangs (14-2, 2-1 GSAC) out-scored the Spirit 25-18 in the final quarter to break a 50-50 tie at the end of the third.

“Thankful to sneak out with a win tonight,” said TMU Head Coach Lisa Zamroz. “Credit to OUAZ for a tough battle. Maddie (Cooke) really kept us in it in the first half alongside a few great charges from Kelly (Lotz).”

TMU struggled in the first half, shooting just 33% from the field and only hit 2 of 17 from 3-point range. OUAZ used that to grab a 24-18 lead after the first quarter and a 36-32 halftime lead.

But the shooting improved dramatically for The Master’s in the second half, hitting 16 of 28 (57%) and 4 of 10 from long range.

TMU finished the game shooting better than 44% from the field, also winning the rebounding battle 41-30.

“Our struggle to find a flow and play off our heels continued a bit into the third until Belle (Hernandez) ignited a spark that took us through the rest of the game,” Zamroz said. “Lexi (Hernandez) got going inside which gave us more opportunity for perimeter players to make plays as well. Maddie played huge for us tonight on both sides of the ball. We’re grateful it went our way, but hope to tighten things up going into Saturday.”

Belle Hernandez finished with a game-high 22 points, followed by Maddie Cooke draining 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Lexi Hernandez finished with 13 and Laney Grider had 11

The Master’s will stay in Arizona, playing the Arizona Christian Firestorm Saturday with a tip-off scheduled for 11 a.m.

For more information visit TMU Sports.