OAKLAND, Calif. – All-American Alex Moore-Porter is back – just in time.

The Cougars put the finishing touches on their final game before opening conference play with a 64-58 victory over Menlo College to close out the Holy Names Thanksgiving Tournament.

Moore-Porter, who missed the first 6 games with an injury, returned this weekend and tonight led the Cougars to a pair of victories. Tonight she came off the bench to register her first double-double of the season with game-highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead Azusa Pacific to its third straight victory. She tallied 12 first-half points to go along with 6 rebounds to lead the Cougars to a 36-31 lead at intermission.

Upon her entrance into the game, she made her first 4 shots to engineer an 8-0 Cougar run that put Azusa Pacific up 19-10. The Cougars went on to push their first-half advantage to as much as 15 on 3 different occasions, the last coming on a Moore-Porter jumper that gave Azusa Pacific a 31-16 lead.

Though Menlo never led, the Oaks closed the first half on a 15-5 run to pull within 5 at halftime. Junior Michelle Byrd made sure Menlo would never catch Azusa Pacific, scoring 8 of her 15 points in the final frame. Like Moore-Porter, Byrd also snagged a game-high 10 rebounds to finish with her first double-double of the season.

For the second straight night, Azusa Pacific struggled to control the ball, committing a hefty 23 giveaways. However, it was the Cougars' defense and domination on the glass the preserved the victory in their first meeting with the Oaks in 10 years. The Oaks missed 37-of-55 shots and were out-rebounded by Azusa Pacific, 36-27.

Sophomore guard Briana Hall added 12 points to aid the Cougar cause, and Kristie Hala'ufia added 10 points.

Now 6-2 on the season, Azusa Pacific returns home to open Golden State Athletic Conference play Tuesday (Dec. 1), hosting The Master's College at 5:30 p.m. in the Felix Event Center.