AZUSA, Calif. – In a contest that looked more like a conditioning drill, the NAIA's No. 24-ranked Azusa Pacific broke Olivet Nazarene's full-court press with ease to post a convincing 115-89 victory over the visiting Tigers in the final game of the 7th Annual GSAC Challenge Friday evening at the Felix Event Center. Azusa Pacific's point total was the third-highest in program history and the most for a Cougar squad since a 120-30 victory over Chapman during the 1976-77 season.
Led by 4 players with 19 points or more, Azusa Pacific shot a blistering 62 percent (46-for-74) from the field, earning numerous opportunities under the basket after breaking Olivet Nazarene's swarming full-court pressure. The Cougars led wire-to-wire, registering 72 of their 115 points in the paint and converting for 42 points off Olivet Nazarene's 29 turnovers.
Junior forward Abby Johnson led the way with a game-high 27 points and a season-high 12 rebounds for the Cougars, her third double-double of the season. Senior guard Monica Somers added 25 points, 6 rebounds and game-highs of 7 assists and 4 steals, and senior guard Kristy Urbick scored 13 of her career-high 20 points in the first half as Azusa Pacific posted its highest-scoring half of the season to take a 61-47 halftime lead.
"I knew if I ran the floor well, that would get us better options inside," said Johnson. "We wanted to look more inside because they had more guards and we knew we would have the advantage. Another one of our goals was to crash the boards and block out, and I think we did that well."
The second half featured more of the same, as Azusa Pacific hung another 54 points on the scoreboard, the Cougars' second-highest scoring half of the season. Johnson got the Cougars rolling in the second half, knocking down a short jumper for a 63-47 lead 8 seconds into the half, and Azusa Pacific maintained at least a 16-point cushion the rest of the way. Johnson scored a pair of baskets with just under 10 minutes to play, sparking a 10-point run that gave the Cougars their largest lead of the game at 91-64 with 8:11 to play.
Azusa Pacific quickly turned 3 Tiger turnovers into a 6-0 lead in the first 2 minutes, but Olivet Nazarene sophomore guard Courtney Hehn scored her team's first 9 points on a trio of 3-pointers, cutting the Cougar lead to 11-9 just 4 and a half minutes into the game. With just under 14 minutes remaining in the half, Urbick sank a layup after a Somers steal, sparking a 21-6 run that gave the Cougars a 36-17 lead with 9:37 remaining in the half. Junior guard Hilary Disch knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds of the half to cut a 20-point lead into a 61-47 halftime deficit.
"We knew they would press the whole time, so we just wanted to get to the middle," said Urbick. "We knew that once we got the ball to middle, we could get layups, so that's what we tried to do."
Hehn tied a GSAC Challenge single-game record set earlier in the day by California Baptist's Erin Greenberg with 8 3-pointers for a team-high 24 points in 15 minutes of action for Olivet Nazarene, which regularly substituted all 5 players on the court after just a few possessions. Thirteen of the Tigers' 14 players played 10 minutes or more, with none registering more than 21. Senior forward Kellie Mullin added 16 points, and Disch finished with 11 points and a team-high 6 rebounds for the Tigers.
Senior forward Meliame Hala'ufia was a perfect 9-of-9 from the field, scoring a career-high 19 points in 12 minutes of action off the bench. Junior guard Sarah Leathers was content to break the pressure and distribute the ball, attempting just 3 shots while coming up with 6 assists and 4 steals.
"I think we just keep building team chemistry as we go," said Johnson. "We're more consistent with how we're playing and improving as we go. We have had some adversity this season, but getting through the adversity has helped us become closer and play more as a team on the court, too."
With the win, Azusa Pacific extends its winning streak to 7 and improves to 9-3 on the season, while Olivet Nazarene drops to 6-9. Olivet Nazarene set the collegiate women's basketball record for most points by the losing team in a regulation game with yesterday's 122-119 loss to California Baptist. Azusa Pacific has wrapped up its non-conference slate and resumes GSAC play Jan. 2 when it visits Hope International in an effort to even the Cougars' conference mark at 2-2.
