ROCKLIN, Calif. – The Northwest Christian University women’s basketball team opened up play in the Bill Holtz Warrior Classic on Friday with a loss, falling to NAIA Division I No. 10 The Master’s College, 92-69.
The Beacons matched the Mustangs point-for-point in the second half but couldn’t overcome a large first-half deficit. Head Coach Liz Turner-Bolton said, “I was really happy with our second-half effort tonight. We played even with them by being more assertive and capitalizing on movement out of their traps.”
NCU (2-2) shot 36% from the field, in large part to a 10-for-40 clip in the first half that included just 2-for-13 shooting from three-point range. The Beacons hit on 50% of their attempts beyond the arch after the break. Hannah Frederick once again led NCU, scoring 17 points along with a game-high six assists. Tami Brown threw in 9 points along with a game-high eleven rebounds. Allie Kelsey (pictured) scored 12 points, as did Sami Pitts, along with five assists and two steals. “Sami continues to impress by playing within herself and hitting shots,” said Turner-Bolton.
The Master’s (1-0) had five players in double-figures led by 19 from Jacquelyn Marshall. Nicole Nitake came off the bench to score 14 points, while reserve Shannon Kingery added 11. The Master’s bench outscored their NCU counter-parts, 47-14. As a team, the Mustangs hit 12 three-pointers, shooting 44.4% from downtown.
Coach Turner-Bolton added, “The Master’s is tough to defend as they shoot extremely well from deep range. It was a great opportunity to play a top-ten nationally ranked NAIA D-I team and take some good things away from it.”
The Beacons will look to rebound quickly when they face off against host William Jessup at 3:00 pm on Saturday.