SAN DIEGO, Calif. --  Point Loma Nazarene's Golden Gymnasium has historically been a place that Azusa Pacific would rather avoid. Especially, since it has been 6 years since the Cougars have won here.
 
It took an extra 5 minutes tonight, but the NAIA's No. 17-ranked Cougars finally ended 6 years of frustration with an 87-79 overtime victory over the Crusaders in San Diego to open up the 2001-02 GSAC season.
 
"We just started pressuring the ball in the second half, and that was key for us," said Azusa Pacific interim head coach Matt Elofson. "Our pressure defense and offensive execution in the overtime proved to be the difference. This is great win to start conference, especially considering it's been a long time since we had won down here. This is a tough place to win, and we got it out of the way."
 
With the game tied at 75-75 with 3 minutes remaining, two-time All-American and reigning GSAC Player of the Year senior Jacqueline Godoy buried the Cougars' lone 3-pointer of the game to give the Cougars the lead for good at 78-75.
 
The Cougars outscored the Crusaders 18-10 in the overtime period, including a 12-4 run to close out the game. The Cougars missed just one shot in overtime, hitting 6-of-7.
 
However, the overtime period nearly didn't come. In a second half that was nip and tuck, the Cougars appeared to begin to assert themselves exploding with a 14-3 run to start the second half and take a 43-34 lead with 4:16 left. However, the Crusaders fought back and held a 51-46 lead with 9:56 left.
 
Azusa Pacific used a 14-2 run to take a 60-53 lead with 6:46 to play. But, again the Crusaders answered and took a 62-61 lead with 4:02 remaining.
 
From there, the lead changed hands 4 times, the final coming when Point Loma's Corey Zimbleman hit 2 free throws with 36.8 seconds remaining to give the Crusaders a 68-66 lead.
 
The Cougars had once chance to tie, but Ruth Taylor converted just 1-of-2 free throws with 15 seconds left. After the Crusaders' Kelly Murray did the same, Godoy grabbed the rebound, drew a foul and calmly hit the ensuing 2 free throws to force extra time.
 
"It didn't look good for us with 15 seconds left, but we got new life when they missed that free throw," said Elofson.
 
Five Cougars ended with double-figures led by Solorio's team-high 28 points, 10 of them coming in overtime. Her first of 2 free throws with 24 seconds left put her over the 1,000-point plateau for her career. Now with 1,003 career points, Solorio needs 249 points to move into fifth place on the Cougars' all-time scoring chart.
 
Senior Stephanie Patten added 16 points and 4 rebounds. Godoy ended with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists. Senior point guard Beth Centlivre finished with 12 points and 5 assists, and Taylor chipped in with 11 points before fouling out.
 
The Cougars, now 2-2 overall, 1-0 GSAC, travel to Brea Saturday evening to face Hope International at 6:30 p.m.