AZUSA, Calif. -- The NAIA's No. 22-ranked Azusa Pacific got a career-high 34 points from All-GSAC center Stephanie Patten then held off an inspired charge from The Master's College to post an 89-77 win over the Mustangs in the opening round of the 2002 GSAC Postseason Tournament.
 
The win places the Cougars in Saturday night's semifinals where they will face either Biola or Vanguard depending on the outcome of Vanguard's game against No. 6-seed Westmont later tonight.  If Vanguard wins, the Cougars face the Lions.  If Westmont wins, the Cougars will see Biola.  The Cougars swept both teams this season.
 
Patten exploded out of the gate hitting 8-of-13 shots and 8-of-9 free throws scoring 24 of her 34 in the opening 20 minutes to help the Cougars build a comfortable 43-34 halftime lead.  The Cougars actually held a 15-point advantage (30-15) with 6:49 to go in the half, when senior Ruth Taylor went down with a separated shoulder.
 
At that point, The Master's began to assert itself, whittling the lead down to 5 with 1:12 to go in the opening half.  The Cougars hit 4 consecutive free throws, 2 from Patten and 2 from Beth Centlivre to take the 9-point lead at the intermission.
 
Trailing by 9, the Mustangs opened the second half with a 14-4 spurt to take a 48-45 lead less than 6 minutes in.  They then buried 6-of-10 3-point bombs over the next 8 minutes to keep a stranglehold on the lead until All-GSAC Catherine Solorio buried a baseline jumper with 6:19 to play to give the Cougars a 68-67 lead.
 
The lead then changed hands 5 times over the next 1:30 with the Cougars taking the final lead, 74-73, on of all things a Patten lay-up with 4:47 to go.  That lay-up sparked the Cougars to a 17-4 run over the final 5 minutes to close the game.  In the final 1:20, the Cougars hit 9-of-10 free throws to ice the game.
 
"We switched to a man defense, and I'm not sure they expected that, because we have played zone all year against them," said Azusa Pacific head coach Matt Elofson.  "I thought they would stop hitting the 3, but they never did, so we had to switch.  And actually once we switched we did a better job rebounding."
 
Patten ended the night hitting 11-of-17 shots and 12-of-13 free throws.  She also grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds.  Solorio ended with 18 points and 6 rebounds, and senior All-GSAC Jacqueline Godoy finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds and 12 assists.
 
"Ruth and Steph are both great post players, and that was our game plan ö to go to them.  We are starting to peak, and this is a good time of the year to come together."
 
With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 23-7. The Master's ends its season at 18-12.