MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Junior point guard Sarah Leathers, held scoreless through the first 27 minutes as the NAIA’s No. 24-ranked Azusa Pacific faced a 52-48 deficit, scored all 12 of her points in the final 13 minutes of the game to lead the Cougars to an 84-74 victory over Baker (Kan.) Saturday night at the Cruzin Classic on the campus of Barry University. Leathers knocked down a pair of 3-pointers during a 10-1 run that returned the lead to the Cougars at 58-53 with 10:53 to play and helped seal the win.
“Our mindset changed as the second half went on,” said Leathers. “We started playing to win, and we finally started to do the little things. We pushed the ball more, and we brought up our intensity on defense. I felt like we were rushing a bit in the first half, we were a little bit impatient and we just didn’t move the ball around very well.”
The Cougars led by 7 at the half despite getting out-rebounded 19-14 and misfiring on all 5 of its 3-point attempts, and Baker used a 16-6 run early in the second half to take a 52-48 lead with 13:08 left in the game. In the midst of the run, after Baker took its first lead since midway through the first half at 43-42, the Cougar starting 5 was swapped out for 5 reserves. Junior Kate Shipp and senior Kristy Urbick knocked down their team’s first 3-pointers of the game to give the Cougars brief 1-point leads.
“I definitely got the message that we all needed to pick it up,” said Leathers. “When the subs came in for us and did the things we needed to do, and it gave us confidence. I watched Kate hit her shots, and it made me think that I should have been doing that already. Watching her and Kristy make those 3-pointers gave me confidence in my shot when I went back in.”
The 8-point run was part of a larger 31-11 run that stretched 9 and a half minutes and put the Cougars in control with a 79-63 lead with 3:33 to play after Urbick’s layup after a Shipp steal capped the run.
“That’s just part of being on the team – we stepped up when our team needed us,” said Urbick, who finished with 16 points to set a new career-high for points for the second straight game after scoring 12 in the Cougars’ last contest, an 81-69 victory over Cal Poly Pomona. “We just went in there to work really hard and try to do the little things. When we play good defense, it makes our offense look a lot better. There was no doubt in my mind we were going to win.”
Urbick added a team-high 6 assists in 24 minutes of action off the bench for the Cougars, and junior forward Abby Johnson tied Urbick’s team-high total of 16 points, along with a team-high 7 rebounds. Senior Monica Somers added 14 points, including 12 in the first half. In addition to her 12 points, Leathers dished out 5 assists and grabbed 5 rebounds.
“I thought our bench was really productive, and they really gave us the spark we needed in the second half,” said Cougar head coach Danelle Bishop. “Kate and Kristy each came up with big baskets for us, and they all stepped up the defensive intensity.”
With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 6-3, while Baker drops to 6-7. The Cougars return to action when they take on NAIA Div. II’s No. 17-ranked William Jewell (Mo.) Monday morning at 10 a.m. Eastern.
