AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific’s All-GSAC honorees keyed an 18-5 run to break a halftime tie and lift the NAIA’s No. 13-ranked Cougars to a 71-59 victory over visiting Fresno Pacific in the first round of the GSAC Postseason Tournament Wednesday night at the Felix Event Center. The Cougars advance to a semifinal matchup with No. 7-ranked Point Loma Nazarene Friday night after the Crusaders needed double-overtime to eventually post an 84-72 win over California Baptist.
All-GSAC guard Monica Somers the first of 2 second-half 3-pointers 90 seconds into the second half, and All-GSAC forward Abby Johnson took over in the low post, scoring 7 of the Cougars’ next 11 points. The run that was capped when freshman Rachel Leathers’ running jumper at the elbow banked in with the shot clock winding down to give Azusa Pacific a 46-33 lead with 13:50 remaining in the game.
“Our posts have stepped up big-time the last 2 games, and that’s the Abby I remember seeing in the first part of the year,” said Cougar head coach Danelle Bishop. “I think she recognized that we need an inside presence instead of relying so much on the guards, and she hasn’t shied away and has become more of a threat.”
Fresno Pacific scored 7 straight to get right back in the game, but Somers converted a conventional 3-point play that not only gave the Cougars a 49-40 lead. She also scored the middle basket of a 6-point run that pushed the lead to double-digits for good at 62-48 with 6:24 to play.
Somers finished with 19 of her game-high 21 points after halftime, moving into third in career scoring and second on Azusa Pacific's single-season scoring charts. She is 26 points away from the single-season scoring record an 179 points off the career mark set just last season by Lindsey West.
Johnson posted her eighth double-double of the year with a 20-point, 13-rebound performance. Johnson was 9-of-11 from the field and also blocked 4 shots, helping limit the Sunbirds to a sub-40 percent shooting night from the field (24-for-61).
“I thought we did a good job defensively, which was a goal of ours, but we’ve been inconsistent taking care of the ball the last couple weeks, and I was hoping we could bounce back from that tonight,” said Bishop, whose squad committed 19 of its 27 turnovers in the opening half. “The turnovers really hurt us and it took us awhile to get going. We had a run there in the second half, and it’s good that we had it.”
Fresno Pacific was led by a trio of 10-point scorers in All-GSAC forward Katie Williams, Brooke Stanley and Chinelle Watson. Although the Sunbirds helped limit Azusa Pacific to just 19 percent shooting from 3-point range (4-for-21), they missed 7-of-11 opportunities from the free throw line.
With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 24-6 on the season, while Fresno Pacific ends its season at 19-12. The Cougars visit Point Loma Nazarene in a GSAC Tournament semifinal at 7:30 p.m. at Golden Gym in San Diego, the site of a 74-69 defeat to the Crusaders in the midst of a 2-3 start for Azusa Pacific. After the month of November, the Cougars have been among the hottest teams in the NAIA, winning 22 of their past 25 games.
The other semifinal matchup features GSAC regular-season champion and the NAIA’s top-ranked Vanguard, which will host No. 25-ranked Westmont, a 68-59 winner over The Master’s in other tournament action. Vanguard posted a 79-55 victory over Concordia this evening in Costa Mesa.
