AZUSA, Calif. -- On a rare off night for GSAC Player of the Year candidate Monica Somers, the NAIA’s No. 12-ranked Azusa Pacific had 5 others step up to join Somers in double-figure scoring to lead the Cougars to an 88-70 victory over No. 24-ranked The Master’s Tuesday evening. The win extends the Cougars’ winning streak against opponents not ranked No. 1 in the nation to 20 games, as Azusa Pacific has now won 20 of its past 22 games with only a pair of setbacks to Vanguard during the stretch.
Somers got out to a quick start, scoring 10 of her 12 first-half points, including back-to-back 3-pointers, to help the Cougars take a 14-4 lead less than 5 minutes into the game. From there, the senior guard went cold, missing her next 7 shots from the field before capitalizing on a late fast break caused by an Alyssa Ferdaszewski steal to send Azusa Pacific to halftime with a 47-37 advantage.
“I came out and hit a couple 3s and a layup,” said Somers, “but I felt things from then on weren’t going to be easy for me. I was a lot more hesitant and looked to pass to my teammates a lot more.”
Joining Somers in double figures in the first half was senior Meliame Hala’ufia, who made 6-of-7 in the half for all 13 of her points. After Lisa Chenoweth cut the lead to 29-22 with 7:06 to play, Hala’ufia converted a 3-point play that sparked an 8-point run capped by a Ferdaszewski 3-pointer that gave Azusa Pacific its largest lead of the half at 37-22 with 5:30 left. Freshman center Kristel Eddington found Hala’ufia wide open on the baseline for a pair of easy layups underneath the basket twice in less than a minute, helping Hala’ufia to answer back-to-back baskets from the Mustangs’ Kinsley Mittel.
Although her aggressive, physical drives to the basket weren’t earning any free throw opportunities and made for very difficult shots to finish, Somers picked up her game on the boards, finishing with a career-high 10 rebounds to go with a final tally of 24 points, still higher than her season average. In addition, Somers was able to exploit a collapsing defense employed by The Master’s, dishing out 6 assists.
“Early on, Monica was getting frustrated that they were collapsing,” said Cougar head coach Danelle Bishop. “She always asks me what she can do about it, and I just told her to play defense and rebound, and I thought she did a really good job of focusing on those areas. I wouldn’t say it’s been a focus to get other players in double figures, but we are trying to distribute the ball and move the ball around quicker, and I thought we did a good job of that tonight.”
After getting out-rebounded in 4 of its past 5 games, the Cougars made a concerted effort to control the boards, posting a 58-38 rebounding advantage, coming just 2 rebounds short of tying a team season-high.
“We’ve been focusing on rebounding all year, but over the last 2 and a half weeks, our girls seem to have gotten away from really putting a body on people,” said Bishop. “Tonight I was really proud of our girls, because it just felt like every board was going to be ours.”
Somers was again joined by several teammates in the effort, with Hala’ufia grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds and junior Abby Johnson and Eddington, who tallied 8 rebounds apiece.
“I didn’t know I had 10 rebounds,” said Somers. “Maybe I should crash more often. I literally can’t remember a single rebound that I got. Something I have been focused on is being more rounded on defense, rebounding, assists and keeping my turnovers down. In that respect, I was happy with my game tonight.”
Junior Sarah Leathers was 1 of the beneficiaries of Somers’ ball distribution, scoring 11 of her 13 points in the second half and knocking down a pair of crucial 3-pointers midway through the second half that each time pushed the Cougar lead back to 15 points. Joining the double-figures club were Johnson and Eddington, who each scored 10 points. Senior guard Kristy Urbick was the final Cougar in double figures, tallying 12 points as the Cougars posted at least 80 points for the 10th time in the past 20 games.
“The loss (to Vanguard) made us realize we need to pick it up even more, because that’s the level we’ll be seeing at the national tournament, and that’s our main goal now,” said Leathers. “I think we were frustrated after this weekend, but our practices have been intense. We picked it up another level.”
Johnson sank a pair of layups around a 3-pointer from Brianne Yahn to give the Cougars a 51-40 lead to start the second half, and the lead fluctuated from 11 to 16 points over the next 14 minutes of play until Lisa Chenoweth sank a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 75-65 with 4:05 to play. Somers answered with her second field goal of the half with 2:24 left, although Mittel’s 3-point play on the ensuing Mustang possession diminished the lead to 77-68 with 2:16 to play.
Somers, who missed 6 of her first 10 free throws, calmly drilled her final 4 and added a layup to lead the Cougars on a 9-0 run to finish the game. She also spearheaded a Cougar defense that forced 23 Mustang turnovers, collecting a game-high 5 steals, while Johnson blocked 3 Mustang field goal attempts.
With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 22-5 overall, 14-4 in GSAC play, picking up a game in the conference standings on second-place Point Loma Nazarene, which dropped to 15-3 in conference after losing at home to Vanguard, 66-49. The Master’s drops its fourth straight game to fall to 13-11 overall, 8-10 in GSAC. The Mustangs can finish no better than .500 in GSAC play, its worst record since joining the GSAC in the 2001-02 season. Azusa Pacific visits Californai Baptist Friday, Feb. 23 at 5:30 p.m. before wrapping up the regular season at home in a 5:30 p.m. contest against Biola on Monday, Feb. 26.
