RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The All-GSAC frontline of Alex Moore-Porter and Kristie Hala'ufia combined for 43 points and 15 rebounds to lead the NAIA's No. 10-ranked Azusa Pacific to an 81-60 Golden State Athletic Conference victory over California Baptist University Saturday night in Van Dyne Gym.
For the fifth time in as many games, Moore-Porter was the Cougars' top scorer, draining a game-high 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting while Hala'ufia added 18 points and a game-high 9 rebounds to lead the Cougars to a fifth straight win and their largest margin of victory at Cal Baptist since posting a 33-point decision (77-45) in the Van Dyne in 1981.
Moore-Porter, who has been on fire since her return from injury 5 games ago, continued her torrid play, this time moving her game from underneath the basket to the perimeter where she knocked down a career-high 7 three-pointers on just 8 attempts.
"That's an area of her game that she really worked on during the summer and obviously it paid off tonight," said Cougar coach T.J. Hardeman. "None of what happened tonight was by accident. She is pretty conscientious about her game and making it complete."
Moore-Porter canned back-to-back treys, both off Teri Higgenbottom dishes, to give the Cougars their biggest lead of the night at 70-45.
"Both of those baskets game off scramble situations and not drawn-up plays," said Hardeman. "The great thing about that was that our guards recognized who had the hot hand. We talk about being basketball smart, that was basketball genius to find her in an unorganized situation."
Azusa Pacific never trailed in the game. Hala'ufia converted 3 consecutive baskets to give Azusa Pacific a 15-8 lead 8 minutes into play. The Lancers rallied back to within 4 at 17-13 on a Megan Bradford bucket, but the Cougars answered with a 12-0 run to take control at 28-13 following a C.J. Hill lay-up.
Cal Baptist pulled back to within 6 on a couple of occasions but Moore-Porter nailed 3-bomb at the buzzer gave the Cougars a 38-29 cushion at halftime.
Hill added 10 points and career-high 10 assists to aid the Cougar cause.
"The stat that I'm really happy about is that we had 24 assists on 29 baskets which means we were looking for each other," added Hardeman. "We talk a lot about making other people on the team better and that's a sign that we're doing things right."
Sophomore guard Briana Hall collected 12 points and 4 assists, 10 and 3 of which came in the second half.
Six-footers Kristel Eddington and Amber Williams combined for 10 points and 8 rebounds, enhancing the Cougars' control of play under the basket.
"There were times we had Amber or Kristel in there with Kristie and Alex on the perimeter," said Hardeman. "If you had a football you could probably get 20 yards a carry with that line-up."
Cal Baptist was paced by Bradford's 20 points.
With the victory Azusa Pacific improves to 8-2 overall, 2-0 in the GSAC. Cal Baptist falls to 4-3 overall, 1-1 in the GSAC.
Azusa Pacific now takes a near-month long break from conference play and doesn't return to the hardwood for nearly 2 weeks when it takes on the NAIA's No. 8-ranked Oklahoma City University, Friday, Dec. 18, on the campus of Hope International University in Fullerton, Calif.
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