AZUSA, Calif. -- Senior guard Pilar Surch (Garden Grove, Calif./Pacific HS) spurred a 21-4 Cougar run that stretched over both halves to lead Azusa Pacific to a 72-59 non-conference victory over Cal State Los Angeles in Azusa, Wednesday night.

Down 19-15 with 6:54 left in the opening half, the Cougars went on a run that turned their fortunes and the game around. Sophomore guard Amy Lemm hit a jumper.in the middle of the key with 3 minutes left in the half to pull the Cougars even at 23-23. Azusa Pacific then reeled off 10 more unanswered points, capped by Surch's back-to-back 3-pointers in less than 20 second to give the Cougars a 33-23 half-time cushion. All the while, CSLA was held scoreless the final 3:34 of the half.

Surch opened the second half with a trey to push the Cougar lead to 13 at 36-23. CSLA rallied to within 4 at 39-35 as Melissa Hopper keyed a 12-3 Golden Eagle run with 6 points. However, Surch ended the Eagles' hopes of a comeback with another 3-pointer to put the Cougars back up by 7 at 42-35 with 13:32 left in the game. CS Los Angeles never got any closer. Lemm scored 8 straight points and Jessica Herman added a lay-up that gave the Cougars its largest lead of the game at 66-48 with 3:48 left.

"I have confidence in myself when the team has confidence in me," said Surch. "Hopefully, I can take this kind of shooting into the conference play, and we can keep this kind of play going."

Lemm led all scorers with 19 points, 13 in the second half. Surch finished with 16 points thanks in part to a quartet of 3-pointers. Junior guard Kelly Speas added 16 points, 6 assists and 7 rebounds for the Cougars.

Cal State Los Angeles was paced by Lukieya Coachman's 16 points and game-high 11 rebounds. Jenny Tankaka added 12 points and 5 assists for the Golden Eagles, who led 10-4 less than 6 minutes into the game.

"This was a solid win," said Cougar coach Danielle Jorgenson. "I'm not necessarily displeased, but we were extremely inconsistent. This is certainly a confidence builder heading into conference play."

With the victory, Azusa Pacific improves to 10-5 on the season. The win also snaps the Cougars' 4-game losing streak to send Azusa Pacific into next Tuesday's GSAC opener at Southern California College on an upswing. Cal State Los Angeles falls to 5-9.