AZUSA, Calif.- The NAIA's No. 18-ranked Azusa Pacific stormed to a 20-3 lead and never looked back as the Cougars improve to 8-0 in GSAC play with a 75-53 victory over Cal Baptist
Tuesday night.
Junior guard
Jacqueline Godoy scored 9 points and dished out 3 assists in the 7-minute, 33-second opening run and went on to post game-highs of 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field (including a perfect 2-for-2 on 3-pointers), 9 assists and 7 steals to go along with 6 rebounds.
Junior forward
Stephanie Patten posted her fifth double-double in the past 10 games, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 of her season-high 14 rebounds in the second half. Junior guard
Catherine Solorio added 16 points and 4 steals.
A pair of Patten free throws gave the Cougars their largest lead of the game at 60-29 with 11:03 left in the game, but the Lady Lancers went on a 13-2 run to close the gap to 20 points at 62-42, but Patten ended the run with another pair of free throws. Cal Baptist made another run in the second half, as Alana Scruggs' 3-pointer capped a 9-1 run to pull within 17 points at 70-53 with 3:23 to play, but the Lady Lancers would not score again. In the final minute, Godoy assisted on a Solorio layup and drained her second trey of the game to round out the scoring.
Both teams were plagued at times throughout the night by poor ball-handling and poor shooting, although Azusa Pacific opened the game with a 61.5% (16-for-26) first-half shooting percentage. However, the Cougars shot just 36.7% (11-for-30) in the second half. Cal Baptist was 18-for-63 (28.6%) from the field in the game and turned the ball over 29 times, while the Cougars committed 26 turnovers. The Lady Lancers struggled at the free-throw line, as well, hitting just 14-of-25 (56%) from the charity stripe.
With the win, Azusa Pacific remains undefeated in GSAC play at 8-0, while improving to 12-5 on the season, while Cal Baptist drops to 4-4 in GSAC, 11-8 overall. The Cougars have won 10 straight at home against the Lancers, and 19 of the past 22 meetings.
