AZUSA, Calif. -- Cal State San Bernardino made 15-of-27 field goals in the second half to rally from a 1-point halftime deficit and pull away ti defeat Azusa Pacific, 67-61, in the Cougars' home opener Tuesday night in Azusa.

For the Coyotes, 4 players scored in double figures led by Sarah Hagman's 16 points. Keisha Allison added 14, and Becky Vail chipped in 13. Jill Bekar led CSUSB with 9 rebounds.

Azusa Pacific was paced by Pilar Surch, who had 18 points while Jessica Herman added 14 points and 8 rebounds.

With 9 minutes left to play, the Cougars went up by 49-48 on a 3-point bucket by Surch, but the Coyotes outscored the Cougars 17-10 in the final 8:30 to take control of the game and then made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 48 seconds to hang on and hand Azusa Pacific its first loss of the year.

Coming into the contest, the Cougars had back-to-back victories over CCAA teams in Cal Poly Pomona and CS Dominguez Hills.

The Cougars started slow in the first half, falling behind 11-2 and making only 1 of their first 8 field goals. However, they heated up, going on a 20-6 run to take a 22-17 lead with 8 minutes left in the half. Surch had all 9 of her first half points during that run, to give Azusa Pacific a 32-31 half-time advantage.

CS San Bernardino is now 2-0 on the season, while Azusa Pacific falls to 2-1.