March 15, 2006

JACKSON, Tenn. - Second-seeded The Master's College (Calif.) defeated seventh-seeded Auburn University-Montgomery 65-50 to advance to the second round of the 26th annual NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship at Oman Arena.

The Master's led for 39 minutes of the game after Auburn-Montgomery opened with a quick 2-0 lead. The Lady Mustangs shot 54 percent in the first half to the Lady Senators' 32 percent to take a 30-22 lead into halftime. The strong shooting continued in the second half, as The Master's shout 40 percent to help grow their lead to 20 points once in the second half.

Scoring was spread throughout the Lady Mustangs' line-up, with Kinsley Mittel leading the way with 12 points, followed Angela Gimeno and Jenn Ayers-Stamper's 10 points each.

AUM was led by Natalie Nelson's 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Destiny Dulin added 11 points.

The Master's improves to 26-7 on the season and advances to the second round for the third time in program history on Friday at 4:30 p.m. to face sixth-seeded Montana State University-Northern (20-9).