Megan Lindsley
The ball seemed to bounce The Master’s College way for most of Saturday afternoon. However, a last-minute Lewis-Clark State University run dropped the Mustangs 72-70 in their home opener.
No. 14 TMC fell to 1-2 while the 15th-ranked Warriors improved to 5-1 on the young season.
The Mustangs opened the game with a bang as Shannon Kingery (West Hills, CA) dropped a three-pointer off a Nicole Nitake (Torrance, CA) assist.
With the score locked up 36-36 and 2:18 left to play in the half, the Mustangs took the lead off a Megan Lindsley (Vancouver, WA) free throw, followed by a layup to take a three-point advantage. Not to be outdone, the Warriors put up a three-pointer as time expired in the first half to knot the score at 39-all. Lindsley put up eight points in the first stanza and wound up with a team-best 13 points.
In the first half, the two teams squared up the score eight times while switching the lead 12 times, as well. The Warriors took advantage of 19 points off the bench to build some momentum going into the second half.
Despite the Warriors drawing first blood in the second half with a bucket, the Mustangs answered right back as Nitake used her outside precision to splash a three, putting the hosts back in front 42-41.
The Mustangs controlled most of the second half, not allowing the Warriors to take the lead until there was 2:06 left to play.
They did so, parlyaing a jumper and two free throws into a 68-65 lead with a little over a minute to spare.
After being fouled, Lindsley drained two free throws to cut the deficit to one. On the next possession, the Warriors failed to make a jumper, opening the opportunity for Lindsley to drain a three for a 70-68 lead with 30 seconds showing on the clock.
L.C. State answered right back with a jump shot and a costly foul by TMC sent the Warriors to the line where consecutive free throws put the visitors back in front with 11 seconds left to play.
The Mustangs had one more shot to draw even or win the game but a turnover with five seconds remaining left them without an opportunity.
Lindsley’s team-high total of 13 points came on 4-9 shooting from the field, including a 2-3 mark from behind the arc. Nitake drained a trio of trifectas on the way to 11 points and Bianca Cubello (Riverside, CA) added 10 more. Freshman Chayan Lowery (Spring Valley, CA) came off the bench to score eight rebounds and grab a team-high seven rebounds.
The Mustangs will have a few days to think about this one before returning to action next weekend at the CHM Hotels Invitational at Westmont. Continuing an early-season trend, the club will face its third Top 25 team in four games, playing NAIA Division II No. 18 Menlo in a first-round game at 7:30pm on Friday.
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