By Brad Cygan, NAIA Championship Media Staff

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – (BOX SCORE) The Loyola (La.) Wolf Pack had a win within sight on Wednesday in Independence, Mo., but thanks to a stout defense and a game winning shot with .07 seconds left on the clock, The Masters (Calif.) survived a dogfight with a 59-57 win in the first round of the NAIA Women’s Basketball National Championship.

“We’ve never let one win or loss define our season, so we’re thankful that we were able to get the monkey off our back,” said The Master’s head coach Dan Waldeck. “We’ve played one game in the last three weeks, so we knew that we may be a little rusty. Loyola did a great job and hit some big shots – we’re just thankful that we hit the last one.”

Loyola (23-8, 15-4 SSAC) put together what its followers would likely consider another in a string of solid performances, which nearly led to the team’s 24th win of the season. It was clear from the outset that the Wolf Pack was not phased by its No. 6-seed in the 2016 tournament and looked to display the same talent that led the team to its second-consecutive Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament title.

The Masters (25-5, 14-2 GSAC) took a brief 4-0 lead to begin the game as Chayan Lowery posted the first bucket. The Mustangs ran their lead all the way to 7-2 before the Wolf Pack responded. Loyola’s Caroline Gonzalez knocked-down her first of two, three-balls of the game to tie it at seven.

Kylah Jones, the point guard from Houston, Texas, found her way onto the stat sheet early and often. The dynamic junior recorded four of her team-high 14 points in the opening minutes and helped Loyola to play right with the Mustangs throughout.

Loyola took a slim, two-point advantage, 13-11, into the second quarter as both offenses struggled to get going. As the second 10 minutes got underway, however, both teams began heating-up.

The two teams began a three-point show that put the fans on their feet at the midway point of the second half, which broke a 20-20 tie. Mustang guard Nicole Nitake hit one of her two, NBA-range three-pointers, at the 5:41 mark to give The Masters a 23-20 lead.

Not to be forgotten, however, was Loyola guard Megan Worry. The freshman from Houston, Texas dialed-up a long range three on the other end to tie the game at 23. Then, just moments later after back-to-back free throw misses from the Mustangs’ Lowery, Worry drained another big shot from well beyond the arc to give the Wolf Pack the 26-23 advantage.

The game entered the half tied at 32, and the second half was just as good as the first.

Loyola posted the first four points of the third quarter, but the lead was short-lived. The Masters’ Lowery posted three of her team’s five-point run to regain the lead 37-36 with 6:53 remaining in the quarter. From that point, the lead changed hands two more times in the quarter, but the score ended the third the same way it had ended the half, tied.

The Mustangs looked to pull away at times during the fourth quarter, but timely buckets kept the Wolf Pack in it to the end. Loyola’s Kylah Jones knocked-down her lone three of the game with just over eight minutes to play to put her team back in the lead, 49-48. As time wound down, however, The Masters did just enough to secure the first-round victory.

Nicole Nitake led the Mustangs in the final minutes and nailed a three-pointer to put her team up by two, 53-51, at the 5:49 mark. Loyola never regained a lead.

The game’s most exciting moments came at the end as it became a clear the game would be decided in the final seconds. With the game tied at 57, the Mustangs had a chance to take the lead with a possession at 1:01. The Wolf Pack’s Worry, however, recorded her first and only steal of the game with 35 seconds on the clock to give her team a shot at taking the lead.

With just two seconds on the shot clock, Loyola drove to the hoop but was fouled on the floor, giving them the ball with a fresh shot clock on the baseline and a chance to win it. Jones got the ball and put-up a shot to take the lead, which fell short, and gave the Mustangs one final chance to win it with 2.7 seconds remaining.

Nitake took the inbound and made a nearly perfect pass to Bianca Cubello, who laid-in the game winner.

A quick timeout did give Loyola a chance to inbound at the other end, but The Masters put together a stellar defense to cause a five-second violation, as The Mustangs advanced to the second round.

Cubello and Nitake led all scorers in the game with 16 points and Lowery ended her day with 13 points and three blocks. Nitake also went 5-9 from behind the arc.

As a team, The Masters racked-up nine steals in the game, but shot just 35 percent in the win. In fact both teams shot just south of 36 percent in the contest as both team defenses were ranked in the top five in the nation.

With the win, The Masters will advance to play No. 2-seed Campbellsville (Ky.) on Friday at 9:00 a.m. at the Silverstein Eye Centers Arena.