AZUSA, Calif. --- Senior guard Monica Somers triggered a second-half explosion, scoring 30 of her game-high 32 points in the second half to help Azusa Pacific deliver what was likely its finest half of basketball this season after a first half that easily ranks among its worst all year. Somers’ second straight 30-point performance led the NAIA’s No. 16-ranked Cougars to a 64-point second half and an 88-66 win over No. 24-ranked Westmont Tuesday evening at the Felix Event Center.
“I really don’t care to discuss our first half – I think 17 turnovers covers that,” said Cougar head coach Danelle Bishop, “but in the second half I thought we did a really good job of communicating on defense and let our defense create our offense. Monica stepped up big-time for us, which got everybody else going.”
In a 74-second span late in the second half, Somers scored her last 11 points to put the game away. She converted a conventional 3-point play, knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game, drained a pair of free throws and drilled another trey to cap a 13-5 run that turned a 69-54 lead into an 82-59 margin with 3:16 left. When all was said and done, Somers had contributed to a second-half effort in which the Cougars shot a blistering 67 percent (20-for-30) from the field, including 50 percent (5-for-10) from 3-point range.
“Getting to the free throw line really sparked it for her,” said Bishop. “She wasn’t even thinking twice about her outside shot, and because she was hitting from the outside, they didn’t know how to defend her.”
Somers, Azusa Pacific’s career leader in free throws made and attempted, came within 1 free throw of tying the Cougars’ single-game free throw mark of 16, sinking 15 of her 16 attempts from the charity stripe. The Cougars, who were 4-of-8 from the line in the first half, sank 19-of-22 in the second half. The victory avenges the second of Azusa Pacific’s 3 conference losses, and the Cougars slid to within a half-game of idle Point Loma Nazarene.
“I think (revenge) was definitely in the back of our minds,” said Bishop. “When we played down there, we definitely weren’t the same team that we are today.”
At the start of the game, over 5 minutes passed before a point was scored, and nearly 7 and a half minutes went by before either team made a field goal. An Azusa Pacific squad that had managed just 15 points in the first 16 minutes of the game was lucky to shrink its deficit to just 2 points at halftime. The Cougars committed 17 turnovers in the opening half alone, but Westmont didn’t fare much better in the ball protection department. The Warriors committed another 15 turnovers of their own and shot just 30 percent (9-for-30) from the field before escaping with a 26-24 halftime advantage.
The second half was a different story. A mere thirteen seconds elapsed before Somers had tied the game for Azusa Pacific, and a 3-pointer 90 seconds later gave the Cougars the lead for good at 31-29 with 18:22 remaining in the game. From there, the teams combined to make 14 of the next 17 combined 2-point field goal attempts, the last from Westmont’s Ali Mooty to cut the Cougar lead to 53-46 with 10:21 left.
Senior guard Alyssa Ferdaszewski scored a layup and junior guard Sarah Leathers knocked down a 3-pointer to spark a 13-1 run over the next 4 minutes. Somers scored 6 straight during the run, and senior guard Kristy Urbick capped the run with another layup off a Leathers steal to give the Cougars a 66-47 lead with just under 6 minutes to play.
Urbick added 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and junior forward Abby Johnson joined Somers and Urbick in double figures with 10 points and a pair of blocked shots. Leathers put together a line of 8 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and a game-high 5 steals, while Ferdaszewski’s production was also balanced with 8 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists.
Westmont struggled with its shot all night, shooting just 30 percent (9-for-30) from the field in the opening half and 36 percent (13-for-32) overall, and the Warriors were just 4-of-10 from the free throw line in the first half and 1-for-8 on 3-pointers in the second half. Mooty finished with a team-high 25 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, but Kara Reynolds was the only other Warrior to reach double figures, and she tallied all 10 of her points in the first half.
With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 17-4 on the season, 9-3 in GSAC play, while Westmont drops to 11-7 overall, 6-6 in GSAC. The Cougars return to action when they visit Concordia Saturday night at 5:30 p.m.
