COSTA MESA, Calif. -- All-GSAC Lindsey West had 20 points and 15 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as GSAC champion Vanguard used a late second half surge and near perfect free throw shooting to post an 81-65 win over Azusa Pacific Saturday in Costa Mesa.

The win drops the Cougars 19-10 overall, 12-7 GSAC, while Vanguard improves to 26-2, 18-2.

Despite the loss, Azusa Pacific clinches no worse than fourth place in the GSAC thanks to Biola's, 66-60, win over The Master's, which guarantees the Cougars of a home game in Thursday's opening round of the GSAC Postseason Tournament. The Cougars can still finish third in the GSAC with a win over Westmont Tuesday.

West finished 8-of-13 from the floor and swiped 10 of her 15 rebounds off the offensive glass before fouling out.

Vanguard used a 14-2 run midway through the second half to take control of the game. With the game tied 52-52, Vanguard scored 6 straight points to take a 58-52 with 9:51 to play. Nicolette Dresback sank a pair of free throws to stem the tide, but Vanguard's 6-3 center Kelly Schmidt, who finished with a game-high 24 points, began to take over.

As the Cougars went ice cold, going 0-for-6 from the floor and committing 4 turnovers, the Lions went solely to Schmidt, who buried 8 straight free throws to surge the Lions into a 66-54 lead with 6:38 to play.

Monica Somers added 17 points off the bench. She sank a pair of free throws to start a 9-0 Cougar run, and then sandwiched her only 3-pointer of the game between Jaclyn Rice's only bucket of the game and a pair of Dresback free throws to bring the Cougars within 66-63 with 2:54 to play.

However, GSAC Player of the Year candidate Lisa Faulkner, who finished with 19 points and 6 assists, buried a trey to push the lead back up to 6, and aside from a pair of West free throws, the Cougars didn't score again. The Lions closed the game with a 15-2 run, hitting 12-of-12 from the free throw line.

In the opening half, Somers gave the Cougars an 18-14 lead when the Lions went on an 18-4 run to take a 10-point (32-22) lead with 3:31 to play before carrying a 39-30 lead into the locker room. Vanguard led 48-37 early in the second half when Somers scored 6 points in a 13-2 Cougar run that tied the game at 50-50 with 13:02 to play.

The game itself wasn't the prettiest as the teams combined to shoot just 38.5% from the floor. The teams combined for 34 turnovers, but 23 of them were committed by the Cougars. Vanguard hit 33-of-40 free throws, including 22-of-25 in the second half.

Dresback chipped in with 12 points and 6 rebounds, and Kelsey Hudson added 7 points and 8 rebounds.