Zoe Scott

Backed by five three-pointers from Zoe Scott (Spokane, WA), The Master’s College Lady Mustangs opened up conference play with a 94-47 victory over Hope International (8-8, 0-1 GSAC) Tuesday night in Bross Gym.

The victory keeps the No. 8 nationally ranked Lady Mustangs undefeated at 14-0, and gives the squad a perfect record in the Golden State Athletic Conference.

Scott drained her first trey with 6:15 left in the first half, and closed out the stanza with two other three-pointers, followed by two more in the second half.  By the end of the night, Scott went 5-8 on three-pointers and led the team in scoring with 21 points.

But like all victories, this win came by the means of an overall team effort.

Lena Rivera (Allen, TX) followed Scott with 15 points, and was perfect behind the line by going 3-3 on free throws.  One of Rivera’s most notable plays occurred in the first half at the 4:41 mark when the senior guard stole the ball from HIU’s Krystal Canning and drove in for a layup, bringing the score to 35-11.

Coming off Saturday’s performance against a mismatched Simpson University where she led all scorers with 18 points (all of which came behind the arc), Kimmy Iverson (San Marcos, CA) proved her long-range marksmanship yet again by going 3-5 in three-pointers against the Royals. Iverson finished the evening with 11 total points.

Olivia Thompson (Huntington Beach, CA), Shannon Kingery (West Hills, CA) Kelly Burns (Yorba Linda, CA) and Kim Smither (Saugus, CA) all gained invaluable playing experience as the four newcomers contributed to the Lady Mustangs’ second highest scoring contest of the 2012-2013 campaign.

And while TMC proved that they were no slouch in shooting, it was the Lady Mustangs’ defense that kept the Royals to 47 points.   Jacquelyn Marshall (San Clemente, CA) led the Lady Mustangs with seven defensive rebounds and nine total rebounds by the end of the second stanza.  Offensively, the junior transfer tallied nine total points and led the squad with five steals.

Theresa Brown (Eugene, OR) put on a strong defensive showing with eight rebounds.  Brown tallied eight points by the end of the night.

Early on, the Lady Mustangs’ defense set the tone for the evening as they held the Royals to a minimal 20.7% (6-29) in shooting at the end of the first stanza, a far cry from TMC’s 57.1% (20-35).   However, the Royals drastically improved their shooting in the second half by going 11-26 (42.3%).  Interestingly enough, both squads finished the night at 38.5% behind the arc.

The Lady Mustangs now hit the road to the Grand Canyon State where they will take on GSAC newcomer Arizona Christian (4-9, 0-1 GSAC) Saturday afternoon in a 5:30 PM (PST) tipoff.