By Don Gilmore, TMU Assistant Sports Information Director

Dan Waldeck and his Lady Mustangs basketball team found a way to “flush” a bad memory.

Following Saturday evening’s tough loss to Arizona Christian, the head coach used that word as a way for his team to put a disappointing performance in the rear-view mirror.

Consider it done.

His squad dismantled an outmanned Bethesda squad 78-53 Monday evening in its final home game of the season.

“It was good to get out and play again,” Waldeck said. “I’m proud of the girls’ ability to focus on a quick turnaround.”

The non-conference victory over the Flames lifted the Mustangs’ overall record to 17-7 and prepared them for a challenging, three-game road trip to end the regular season.

Behind sophomore Hannah Forrar‘s eight points and a couple of 9-1 runs, the Mustangs sprinted to an 18-9 lead at the end of the opening quarter.

Sophomore Hannah Ostrom and freshman Jessica Soares combined for 11 points in the second stanza to pace the Mustangs to a 41-19 halftime lead. Ostrom’s layup with three seconds left in the period gave TMU its largest lead of the contest to that point.

The advantage ballooned to 32 points on two occasions in the third period, and freshman Anika Neuman tallied eight points to pace the Mustangs to a 63-31 lead heading into the final period.

There was a marked difference in TMU’s intensity in the fourth quarter, something that didn’t sit well with Waldeck, who called a couple of late timeouts before his team closed things out.

One place where there was no letup was on the glass where Neuman’s career-high 13 rebounds led a decisive 62-20 advantage for the Mustangs.

Combined with her team-high 16 points, Neuman notched her first career double-double.

Soares and Ostrom contributed 11 points apiece, and Forrar finished with 10 more to round out a quartet of Mustangs in double figures.

“Now we turn our attention to an extremely difficult stretch run,” Waldeck said. “So, it should be fun.”

The fun Waldeck was referring to is a three-game road swing that begins Saturday evening at No. 6 Westmont College in Santa Barbara. It continues on February 22 at Hope International and then the Mustangs finish the regular season two days later at No. 8 Vanguard.