AZUSA, Calif. -- The NAIA’s No. 12-ranked Azusa Pacific gave up 21 second-chance points to a Vanguard squad that grabbed 15 offensive rebounds, and the Cougars’ program-record 16-game home win streak came to an end in a 90-74 defeat in the rematch with the NAIA’s top-ranked Lions. Vanguard won the first meeting between the teams, 80-72, just over a month ago in Costa Mesa.
GSAC Player of the Year candidate Monica Somers scored a game-high 23 points despite putting up just 13 shots, out-scoring Vanguard’s points leader Jessica Richter, who needed 21 shots to score 22 points, but the Cougars gave up 17 more shots in the first half alone and went to halftime facing a 45-33 deficit.
After Somers set up senior Meliame Hala’ufia for a jumper that gave the Cougars a 21-16 lead with 12:40 to play in the first half, Richter scored 3 straight baskets including a 3-pointer that gave the Lions their first lead of the game at 23-21 less than 2 minutes later. After junior Abby Johnson tied the game on the Cougars’ next possession at 23-23, Vanguard’s Kelly Schmidt knocked down a pair of free throws, Richter scored a second-chance basket after rebounding a Vanguard 3-point miss, then drilled her third of 4 3-pointers to cap the 14-2 run that gave Vanguard a 30-23 lead with 8:13 to play.
After Johnson traded baskets with the Lions’ Lacey Burns, freshman Kristel Eddington sparked a 6-point run that cut the lead to 32-31 with 5:26 remaining in the half, but junior Sarah Leathers’ jumper that brought the Cougars to within 36-33 with 4 minutes left was the final basket of the period for Azusa Pacific, as Vanguard scored the final 9 points of the half to take a 45-33 halftime lead.
The Cougars came out of halftime and twice cut Vanguard’s lead to 8 points, but after senior Kristy Urbick’s jumper with 18:11 to play cut the lead to 47-39, the Lions knocked down 3 straight treys in less than a minute to take a 56-39 advantage. With 13:45 left, Leathers drilled her third 3-pointer of the game, cutting the deficit to 63-49, but a 12-4 Vanguard run capped by another Richter triple gave the Lions their largest lead of the game at 75-53 with 11:12 left.
The Cougars had another run left, scoring 9 straight points in 3 and a half minutes to get within 77-64 with 6:19 left, eventually closing to 11 points at 83-72 after a Johnson layup with 2:38 to play. Richter thwarted the comeback with 1 final jumper, and Lacey Burns made 4 straight free throws with less than 2 minutes remaining to put the game out of reach and seal the win for the undefeated Lions.
With the loss, Azusa Pacific loses for just the second time in the past 21 games, with both defeats coming to Vanguard. The Cougars drop to 21-5 overall, 13-4 in GSAC play, while Vanguard improves to 22-0 overall, 17-0 in GSAC. As the conference season winds down, the Cougars remain in third place, dropping 2 full games behind second-place Point Loma Nazarene, which was a 74-54 winner over Westmont this evening. Azusa Pacific remains home to host No. 24-ranked The Master’s Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 5:30 p.m.
