Game Recap By Don Gilmore, TMU Assistant SID

Stephanie Soares is getting a lot of attention during a phenomenal freshman season.

And, it’s well-deserved.

However, there’s more to The Master’s University women’s basketball team this year.

That was evident Saturday evening on Bross Court when the Mustangs cruised to a 69-37 victory over San Diego Christian.

“Tonight was a great team win,” said head coach Dan Waldeck. “We came into the game wanting to work on specific things, and I thought the team did an amazing job of staying focused, competing, and executing our focus points.”

Winners of 14 in a row, the No. 5 Mustangs (22-4 overall, 14-1 GSAC) lead the conference by 2½ games over Arizona Christian.

On a night when Soares’ consecutive double-doubles’ streak came to an end at 16 games, the Mustangs didn’t miss a beat.

They scored the first 11 points of the game and never looked back. The Mustangs led 18-5 after the opening 10 minutes, during which they held the Hawks to just 2-of-15 shooting.

Master’s shot a superb 57.1% (8-14) in the quarter.

The Hawks bounced back in the second stanza, pulling within 20-11 on a Colleen Murphy basket with 8:08 remaining before Rebekah Throns‘ three-pointer keyed a 12-4 run that extended the Mustang lead to 32-15.

Junior guard Sabrina Thompson had five points in the quarter and the Mustangs led 37-19 at halftime.

Six Mustangs had four or more points at the break.

Both clubs had a tough time finding the range in the third stanza, combining for 6-27 accuracy.

Still, the Mustangs increased their advantage, applying some defensive pressure that propelled them to a 49-27 lead after three quarters.

The eight points the Mustangs surrendered in the stanza marked the 31st time this season they have held an opponent to single-digit scoring in a quarter.

They almost did it again over the final 10 minutes, limiting the Hawks to just 10 points.

The Mustangs doubled that number in the quarter and won going away.

They wound up shooting 45.6 percent from the field while holding the Hawks to 22.6% accuracy.

Soares, Forrar, and Jamilee Iddings scored 10 points apiece to pace the Mustangs.

Soares took down eight rebounds and Rebekah Throns corralled seven boards as the Mustangs enjoyed a 52-29 advantage on the glass.

The Mustangs were back in action on Tuesday evening when they welcomed the University of St. Katherine to The MacArthur Center for a non-conference game.

“I feel like we are gaining more momentum,” Waldeck said. “And, Lord willing, we’ll be able to carry that into the games next week.”