In an NAIA women’s basketball Top 25 showdown, No. 21 TMU edged No. 19 Biola 66-63 Saturday night on Bross Court.

The win improved TMU’s record to 16-6 overall and 6-5 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. Biola’s fell to 17-6 (8-3 GSAC). Currently, the Lady Mustangs sit in fifth place in the conference standings.

The Lady Mustangs struggled to find their rhythm early in the first quarter until Megan Lindsley drained a three-pointer and put TMU up 14-13 with 3:06 left in the stanza. TMU never trailed in the final three minutes of the first quarter and entered the second frame tied with the Eagles 18-18.

A combination of excellent defense and relentless scoring kept the Lady Mustangs ahead throughout the second quarter. Notably, three-pointers from Hannah Ostrom at the 5:53 and 4:08 marks, respectively, gave the Lady Mustangs a pair of seven-point leads (27-20, 32-25). However, the Eagles kept things close over the final four minutes of the second quarter and eventually cut TMU’s lead to two points (34-32) when Joclyn Kirton drove in for a layup with 1:12 left before halftime.

Leading Biola 34-32 at the break, the Lady Mustangs finished the first half going 14-29 (48%) from the field, including 6-15 (40%) from behind the ar. At the half, Ostrom led all scorers with 12 points.

After halftime, the Eagles flipped the script and outscored the Lady Mustangs 17-13 in the third quarter, and entered the final stanza with a 49-47 advantage. TMU rallied back and finally regained the lead for good after an Ostrom three-pointer put the Lady Mustangs up 55-53. Despite Kirton tying things at 58-58 with another layup at the 3:08 mark, TMU’s stout defense held off any potential Eagle comeback and finished the evening with the three-point win.

Ostrom’s season-high 18 points led all scorers. Three other Lady Mustangs finished in double figures as Lindsley scored 13 points, Kelly Burns tallied 12, and Bianca Cubello posted 10. Cubello also grabbed eight rebounds, dished out five assists, and blocked four shots.

As a team, TMU went 25-54 (46%) from the field, 11-22 (50%) from behind the arc, and 5-10 (50%) from the line.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my team,” commented TMU head coach Dan Waldeck. “Biola is playing great, and I have the utmost respect for Alan (Nakamura) and his program, but I’m thrilled for my team to get a much-needed close victory. We’ve lost three tough overtime games this season, but our resilient hearts have kept working hard every day. They’ve been giving it all they have for the Lord on a daily basis, so it’s neat to see them get a victory while still living out our core values. We had tons of people step up without Ashley [Bartow] in the lineup, so going forward, I see us really making big strides.”

The Lady Mustangs will enjoy Saturday’s win for a few days and then begin preparations for next Thursday’s game against Hope International (5-15, 0-10 GSAC). Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. in Fullerton.