FRESNO, Calif. -- Freshman Sarah Leathers sank 2 free throws to give Azusa Pacific the lead for good and then nabbed a steal on the ensuing possession to lift the NAIA’s No. 15-ranked Cougars to a 75-72 GSAC win at Fresno Pacific Tuesday night.

The win is the Cougars second straight and improves them to 22-8 overall, 14-5 GSAC. It clinches the fourth-seed in the upcoming GSAC Tournament, which begins next Thursday, securing a home game in the first round against Westmont.

Meanwhile, the Sunbirds drop their sixth in the past 7 games, including 3 in a row to Vanguard, The Master’s and now the Cougars. They fall to 13-15 overall, 6-12 GSAC but secure at least a tie for the eighth and final spot in the GSAC Tournament.

It was a hotly contested game from the tipoff, but a Lindsey West jumper gave the Cougars a 69-66 lead with 2:26 to play. Kari Cox answered just 21 seconds later, and after a Cougar turnover, Melissa Montoya converted a lay-up with 1:19 to play that gave the Sunbirds a 70-69 lead.

Eight seconds after that, though, Leathers drew a foul from Lindsey Burnett and converted both free throws to give the Cougars the lead for good. Just 7 seconds later, Leathers stole the ball from Burnett and fed Alyssa Ferdaszewski for a jumper to give the Cougars a 73-70 lead with 58 seconds left.

After Denise Fast cut the deficit to one (73-72) with a lay-up, Lindsay Rice, who finished with 13 points, sank a pair of free throws with 22 seconds remaining to push the lead back up 3. Montoya’s 3-point attempt with 2 seconds missed, and the Cougars escaped with the win.

Kelsey Hudson led the Cougars with 14 points and 14 rebounds as 5 Cougars finished in double figures.

The game itself had 12 lead changes and another 8 ties, and no lead grew bigger than 8 points when the Sunbirds opened a 47-39 lead less than 4 minutes into the second half with a 12-4 run started by back-to-back treys by Fast and Anna Horn. The Sunbirds’ 3-point shooting kept them in the game. They finished with 11 treys on 27 attempts.

Katie Van Essen finished with 12 points, scoring the first 8 of an 18-7 Cougar run over the next 8 minutes that was capped by a Leathers 3-pointer that gave the Cougars a 57-54 lead with 8:44 remaining. The lead then changed hands 7 times in the final 8 minutes until Leathers put the game away with her free throws.

The Cougars quickly jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the early going, but the Sunbirds, keyed by consecutive treys by Horn and Montoya and a conventional 3-point play by Fast scored 13 straight to take a 6-point lead (16-10).

The Sunbirds led 22-18 midway through the first half when Ashley Oakes, Leathers and Jaclyn Rice each buried 3-pointers to key a 12-2 Cougar run over a 4:11 span to give the Cougars a 6-point lead (30-24) with 6:23 to play. The Sunbirds battled back and forced a 35-35 halftime tie.

Leathers finished with 11 points, 8 assists and 4 steals. Ferdaszewski chipped in with 10 points.