Whitney Best

The Master’s College women’s basketball team continued its strong start to the 2013-14 campaign by beating William Jessup University 69-42 Tuesday night at Bross Court.

With the win, the Lady Mustangs’ record improves to 5-2.

Minus an early 3-2 William Jessup lead, TMC dominated the court the entirety of the game. The Lady Mustangs’ smallest lead was by 3 points early in the first half, while the squad’s largest advantage was by 29 points late into the second.

8 minutes and 39 seconds left to play in the first half, the Lady Mustangs maintained a comfortable 20-10 lead. Then the Warriors managed to methodically narrow TMC’s advantage to 25-22. But a jumper by Bianca Cubello (Riverside, CA) and a layup, followed by a three-pointer, from Megan Lindsley (Vancouver, WA) gave TMC a 32-23 advantage going into halftime.

At the break, Jacquelyn Marshall (San Clemente, CA) led the Lady Mustangs by scoring 8 points and yanking down 6 rebounds. The Lady Mustangs produced a 35% shooting percentage in the first half and scored 12 points in the paint. TMC’s bench manufactured 13 points in the process.

A Lindsey Levanen (Battle Ground, WA) layup kick-started the Lady Mustangs second half efforts 33 seconds after the break. From there, TMC enjoyed a comfortable lead backed by 12 Whitney Best (Snohomish, WA) second half points, ultimately accumulating to a commanding 69-42 victory.

At the end of the night, Best led the Lady Mustangs in scoring by tallying 13 points. Marshall earned a double-double by scoring 12 points and bringing down 10 rebounds. Notably, Nicole Nitake (Torrance, CA) earned 11 points in the 14 minutes of action she saw.

As a team, TMC earned a 40% shooting percentage, brought down 40 rebounds, and produced 19 dimes. Also, by the end of the night, all players on the Lady Mustangs 13-person roster received valuable playing time.

“I’m proud of the way we responded in the second half,” commented Lady Mustang head coach Dan Waldeck. “We defended well and moved the ball much better leading to contributions from many players.”

The Lady Mustangs now look to take on Merrimack College (2-2), a solid Massachusetts-based NCAA D.II team, this Friday at Bross Court. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m.