IRVINE, Calif. -- Up by as much as 18 points in the second half, the NAIA's No. 20-ranked Azusa Pacific applied the breaks to a late Concordia flurry to hold on for 79-67 GSAC road victory Saturday night.
 
Azusa Pacific led wire-to-wire in this one and appeared to be headed for a runaway victory when the Cougars pushed their 33-23 halftime cushion to comfortable 47-29 spread with 12 minutes remaining in the game.
 
However, Concordia rallied by going on an 18-5 run over the next 7 minutes to pull to within 5 at 52-47 with 5:15 to play.  Concordia, though, switched a zone defense at that point, opening the door for All-GSAC guard Catherine Solorio to produce in the clutch.  Solorio personally stopped the Cougar bleading by burying her only 3-pointer of the night, a deep shot from the right corner, before connecting on a short jumper that put Azusa Pacific back in control and up by 10 at 57-47 with 4:41 to play.
 
"When you're a shooter, you have to keep shooting," said Solorio, who was coming off one her worst performances of the year last Wednesday against Fresno Pacific.  "During Concordia's run I was thinking that we had been in worst situations, like at Point Loma, and still survived.  I was confident we'd be fine, and certainly the 3-pointer helped."
 
Solorio finished with a game-high 29 points on 9-for-17 shooting.  All-American Jacqueline Godoy added 18 points, 13 of which came in the final 4 minutes of the game as she personally kept Concordia at bay.  She also snagged a game-high 11 rebounds and came within 2 assists of her first-ever triple-double.
 
"In terms of control, this was probably our best game of the season," said first-year Cougar coach Matt Elofson.  "We've executed our offense better in other games, but tonight we maintained our composure through the entire 40 minutes.  Basketball is a game of runs, and we knew Concordia would make one before the end.  We didn't panic or rush on offense when they put the pressure on"
 
Azusa Pacific jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead but didn't get control of the game until a 10-4 run capped by a Beth Centlivre jumper gave the Cougars their first double-digit lead at 23-13 with 4 minutes to play in the first half.  Solorio and All-GSAC center Stephanie Patten led the charge from the gate by combining to score 23 of the Cougars' 33 first-half points.  Patten finished the game with 16 points and 8 rebounds.
 
Concordia was led by guard Maree Vincent who had 28 points on 7-for-20 shooting.
 
With the victory, Azusa Pacific improves to 10-4 overall, 4-2 in the GSAC.  Concordia falls to 13-3 overall, 3-3 in the GSAC