THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The Cal Lutheran Regals continued their four-game home stretch Monday night against the Mustangs of Masters University. Even with double-digit nights from freshman Cameron Mallory and sophomore Taylor Oshiro, a barrage of threes set the Mustangs on top 108-68.
Overall, the Regals shot 34.9 percent from the flow and 32.4 percent from behind the arc. The offense was led by Mallory and Oshiro who each contributed eleven points and two steals apiece. Mallory went 5-13 on the floor with three defensive boards, while Oshiro went 4-8 in field goals and 2-4 in three-pointers with four boards herself. Also tying the team-high, junior Natalie Ruhl put up four rebounds of her own and led the night in assists with five.
In comparison, led by 21 points from 6'6" freshman Stephanie Soares, Master's shot 57.4 percent from the floor and hit 39 of 68 attempts. Their main dagger, however, came from their 15 treys in the contest. They went 15-33 for a 45.5 percent shooting percentage from behind the arc. In total, four different Mustangs made three three-pointers, including Anika Neuman who had a perfect night on the court. The forward went 6-6 in field goals, 3-3 in three-pointers and 4-4 in free throws.
Though Master's jumped out to the early 5-0 lead, Cal Lutheran begin chipping away early in the first half with quick shots from inside the paint by sophomore Jade Jordan, Mallory and freshman Danielle Roberts. Big threes helped the Mustangs pull away, however, and the Regals found themselves in a 25-6 deficit with four minutes remaining in the first.
Their energy was then revitalized two minutes later when freshman Haley Tyrell nailed a deep three with 02:15 on the clock to make it 27-13. Picking up on the momentum, sophomore Kailee Yan nailed a key trey of her own half way through the second period, before another late run by Master's sent the teams into half leading 62-29.
Entering the new half, Cal Lutheran opened in the third period with a 6-2 scoring run courtesy of a jumper from senior Grace Derksen and free throws from Jordan and Ruhl. Derksen then followed with a three of her own at 6:37 on the clock which spurred Oshiro's trey a little over a minute later.
Threes continued to be the trend for the remainder of the contest as freshmen guards Kamakani DeBlake, Mackenzy Iwahashi and Kylie McEnroe showed off their talents from deep to close out the night for the Regals.
The loss moves Cal Lutheran to 1-2 overall as the team looks to bounce back with quick turnaround to Wednesday's game. Their 3 p.m. matchup against the Willamette Bearcats wraps up the program's four-game opening home series before the team takes off for Thanksgiving.
Box Score: MU 108, CLU 68
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Release by Christy Effendie, Assistant Sports Information Director
