AZUSA, Calif. -- It’s been said that you can never have too much of a good thing, and Azusa Pacific women’s basketball would certainly support that claim. The Cougars’ offense revolved around junior forward Abby Johnson, and senior guard Alyssa Ferdaszewski led a suffocating defense that forced visiting Cal State Dominguez Hills into 22 turnovers in a 77-52 nonconference victory over the Toros Wednesday night.
“I definitely give credit to our defense,” said Cougar head coach Danelle Bishop. “Both the win against Concordia and tonight, we had a lot of energy out there. Our defensive pressure and our rotations really took them out of what they did well.”
Johnson finished with a career-high 28 points on 13-of-18 shooting from the field, hitting from a variety of looks in the post, on open jumpers along the perimeter and on the fast break. She scored the first 2 baskets of the game, sparking a 15-4 Cougar run over the first 5 and a half minutes to start the game, then scored the final 2 baskets in the final minute of the half to follow a Sarah Leathers trey for a 7-point run to close the half. Led by Johnson’s 16 first-half points, the Cougars led 37-26 at halftime.
“We just played a good offensive game, and we played a good inside-out game,” said Johnson. “We were patient on offense and took care of the ball, so that helped open up the offense for us. We’re playing with more team chemistry and more confidence than when we started the year. Now we are starting out strong in the first half, and that really gets us going.”
Ferdaszewski dished out a career-high 13 assists, orchestrating a 14-3 run early in the second half to extend a 10-point Cougar lead into a commanding 55-34 advantage with 13:24 to play. Ferdaszewski started the run by setting up back-to-back baskets in the post by Johnson and senior guard Monica Somers, then set up Leathers for a pair of 3-pointers to cap the run.
“I usually try to make the extra pass, knowing who’s hitting and who’s not,” said Ferdaszewski. “We knew that if they couldn’t stop her, we didn’t have to rely on the outside shot. We were just giving her the ball, and she was finishing well.”
A stifling Cougar defense limited the Toros to 33 percent (19-for-58) shooting from the field, although Cal State Dominguez Hills collected 21 offensive rebounds en route to a 40-30 rebounding advantage over Azusa Pacific. The Cougars also forced 22 Toros turnovers, led by Ferdaszewski’s season-high 4 steals. Johnson added a pair of blocks in 36 minutes of action for Azusa Pacific.
“They had been averaging a lot of offensive rebounds, and they ended up with 21 tonight, so I definitely give them credit for being an excellent rebounding team,” said Bishop. “I don’t know of too many teams that win games when they get out-rebounded like we did on the offensive boards.”
Somers added 16 points for the Cougars, who shot 58 percent (34-for-59) from the field, including a 56 percent (5-for-9) clip from 3-point range. Leathers finished with 9 points, all on 3-point baskets.
“I think we are working it in and out very well,” said Bishop. “Obviously, we got the ball in a lot to Abby tonight, and she finished really well. We didn’t attempt a ton of threes, but we hit the ones that made them get out and play defense on us, which then opened up the penetration to the basket. Our first 4 or 5 games, we really didn’t mix it up very well. We tried to get it inside, but our guards weren’t really looking to attack as much. The fact that they’re looking to attack and also hitting some outside shots is a plus.”
Cal State Dominguez Hills was paced by junior forward Alana Bailey’s 11 points and 6 rebounds, along with sophomore center Ennisha Kyles’ 10-point, 7-rebound performance. Point guard Jessica Liang added 8 points a team-high 4 assists, knocking down 2 of the Toros’ 3 3-pointers.
With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 4-3 on the season, while Cal State Dominguez Hills drops to 2-1. The Cougars return to action when they host another CCAA foe, Cal Poly Pomona, Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
