Women’s basketball played their one and only exhibition game on Tuesday against The Master’s University Mustangs at the Matadome.

The Mustangs stormed out to an early 14-4 lead in the first quarter and held the Matadors to 1-for-18 shooting in the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, the Mustangs went on a 16-4 run, which gave them a 20 point lead midway through the first half. When the Matadors switched to a press defense, they closed the first half on an 11-5 run to make the score 35-21 at halftime.

The Matadors were down 45-32 at the 2:58 mark of the third quarter before going on a 12-2 run to cut their deficit to 47-44 at the end of 30 minutes.

Senior De’Jionae Calloway scored the first two points of the fourth quarter to cut the Mustangs lead down to one. TMU’s 6-6 sophomore center, Stephanie Soares, scored six of the Mustangs’ next 10 points to push the lead back up to nine with 4:30 left to play in the game.

A Calloway two-point jumper and a junior Meghann Henderson three pointer cut the Mustangs’ lead to four points. After Soares’ fourth basket of the last quarter pushed the lead back up to 59-53, Calloway responded with a basket of her own to make the lead 59-55.

Mustang Anika Neuman scored four straight points to make it an eight point game, 63-55 with 2:14 to go. Sophomore Jordyn Jackson hit back to back 3-pointers to make the game 63-61 with 14 seconds to play for the Matadors. Soares shot and made two free throws to seal the game for the Mustangs to make the final score 65-61.

Soares led all scorers with 25 points, in addition to six blocks, 10 rebounds and one assist. Fellow Mustang Olivia Prettyman scored 12 points and had seven rebounds to go along with that.

Calloway led the Matadors with 21 points while also grabbing eight rebounds. Jackson had 19 points, four steals and two rebounds, while senior Hayley Tanabe led the Matadors in assists with six.

TMU held CSUN to 30.9% shooting for the game (21-of-68) and out rebounded the Matadors 49-38. The Mustangs shot 40.7% (24-of-59) for the game, including 23.1% from beyond the arc and 78.6% from the free throw line. CSUN, on the other hand, forced 25 turnovers which led up to 35 points.

CSUN struggled on both ends of the floor during the first half, as they weren’t hitting their shots and didn’t do what they were supposed to do on defense. When they switched to a zone defense, they started to play better. The Matadors did a better job of executing in the second half and the team showed a lot of potential in getting back into the game.

“I think it was a matter of kids settling in and us finally forcing some stops and getting some turnovers on the defensive end,” said head coach Jason Flowers.

CSUN made some big adjustments to get back into the game. Going to a zone defense helped the Matadors eliminate some of the shots that the Mustangs had inside the paint, and Jackson and Tanabe stepped up and made some big plays in the second half.

CSUN will watch film and look to see what they can do better in order to prepare for their first regular season game against USC. In addition to the film, they will also work on their defense as they prepare to go up against the Trojans.

“USC is very talented, athletic and they are a big time,” said Flowers. “We’re going to have to take care of the small things and come ready to play.”

The Matadors start their regular season schedule against the USC Trojans on Nov. 5 at the Matadome at 7 p.m.