The old sports maxim says that defense wins championships.

If that’s the case then The Master’s University women’s basketball team may be on to something.

One night after holding Montana Tech to 34% shooting, the Mustangs were even more stingy Saturday afternoon in a 73-49 victory over Ottawa of Arizona on the second day of the Jersey Mike’s Classic.

The win was the club’s fourth in a row and improved their record to 4-1.

“We can be a tenacious defensive squad,” said TMU head coach Dan Waldeck. “We displayed great effort and teamwork today.”

That tenacity was on display early when a stifling half-court trap led to multiple Spirit turnovers and scoring opportunities. Hannah Forrar’s layup and jumper bookended a 12-1 run that turned a 4-3 deficit into a 15-5 lead.

A Sabrina Thompson jumper gave the Mustangs their largest lead to that point, 19-7, before they settled for a 19-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

There was no defensive let-up in the second quarter as the Spirit missed their first six shots while the Mustangs went 5-8 during a 15-0 run that turned the game into a rout. Thompson and Forrar combined for eight of those points.

Limiting the Spirit to just 12.5% shooting in the first half, the Mustangs converted just under 54% (15-28) of their shots on the way to a 39-15 lead at the break.

That accuracy leveled off for the Mustangs over the final 20 minutes but their first-half performance had paved the way to victory.

They led 56-31 after three quarters and when Tristen Coltom nailed a jumper with 1:19 to play, the club had its largest lead of the evening, 73-43.

The Mustangs finished converting at a 48% clip while the Spirit hit a measly 27%.

Bailey paced four Mustangs in double figures, scoring a team-high 15 points, all of those coming on five three-pointers. She’s shooting just over 57% (16-28) from behind the arc through the first three weeks of the campaign.

Forrar complemented her with 14 points, Hannah Ostrom tossed in 13 more and grabbed seven rebounds, and freshman standout Anika Neuman chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Freshman Rebekah Throns scored only two points but grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and dished out three assists.

“It’s good to see a continued balanced scoring effort by this group,” concluded Waldeck.

He hopes to see more of that on Monday when the Mustangs return to the hardwood of Bross Court to face Carroll of Montana in a 4:00pm start.