Irvine, Calif. -- Concordia nearly blew all of a 26-point halftime advantage, but the Eagles held off a pesky Azusa Pacific and in the end stole an 83-73 Golden State Athletic Conference win in Irvine.

All-GSAC Carrie Twaddell, who a year ago nearly posted a pair of triple-doubles on the Cougars, finished with a game-high 28 points and 12 rebounds.

Leading 15-11, Concordia used a 19-2 run while holding the Cougars without a field goal for nearly 5 minutes to take a 34-13 lead with 7 minutes remaining in the half.

After a quick 7-0 Cougar run, the Eagles pushed the lead up to 26 with a 13-2 run to take a commanding 49-23 halftime lead. Carrie Twaddell was 6-for-8 from the floor in the first frame, collecting 14 points. Sarah Flanagan added ten points, hitting two three-pointers early on.

In a desperation attempt to get back in the game, the Cougars slapped a full-court press on the Eagles from the start of the second half. Concordia was able to stem the tide for the first 11 minutes, leading 67-47 with less than 8 minutes to play. At that point, the Cougars appeared to capture some momentum, whittling the deficit down to 6 (71-65) with an 18-4 spurt with less than 3 minutes to play.

Concordia's Lindsey Shiomi finished with 15 points and hit her fourth 3-pointer with a little more than 2 minutes to play to thwart the Cougars' comeback bid, bumping the Eagle lead up to 9 points (74-65). The Cougars got no closer.

Kelsey Hudson led the Cougars with 24 points, 15 rebounds and 5 steals. Lindsey West added 13 points and 5 rebounds.

With the loss, Azusa Pacific drops to 9-5 overall, 2-3 GSAC. Concordia improves to 9-5, 2-2.