Box Score AZUSA, Calif. – On opening night the second act after intermission is often better than the first. This was the case on Friday evening.
Despite a rough first half, Azusa Pacific rebounded with a solid second 20 minutes as they topped Cal State Dominguez Hills 72-65.
The Toros won the California Collegiate Athletic Association tournament title and earned a berth in the NCAA Championships last season.
"We didn't talk much about changing much from the first half to the second half," said head coach T.J. Hardeman. "We talked about giving maximum effort and hustling and good things will happen for us. We did do a better job of rebounding in the second half and offensively we got used to their defensive pressure and adjusted."
Dominguez Hill broke free from the Cougars with a scoring spurt just before the half's midway point. Already holding an 11-10 lead, the Toros limited Azusa Pacific to six made basket during the last 12:02 of the stanza. During that time frame, Dominguez Hills scored 23 of the next 36 points to take a 34-23 lead into the locker room.
In the opening frame the Cougars couldn't find the bottom of the net from long range as they missed all eight attempts behind the three-point line. Conversely, the Toros connected on four of their 10 attempts in helping them build their lead.
The visitors opened up their lead to start the second half as they went in front 43-29. A tough minded Cougars squad battled back and with the help of three-point plays by Cydie Jones and Kelly Hardeman they went ahead 47-44 with 10:15 left. The 18-3 scoring spree was concluded with a jumped stop field goal by Hardeman. They eventually grew that lead to 53-46 with just under eight minutes left.
Dominguez Hills fought back to tie the score at 58-58 with just under five minutes to play. The visitors rally would not be completed. Azusa Pacific proceeded to score 10 of the next 13 points as they took at 71-61 advantage with 1:41 remaining. The Cougars kept Dominguez Hills at bay down the stretch in grabbing the season opening win.
Hardeman led the scoring efforts with a 29-point performance which tied her career high she set last season. She also grabbed a team high eight rebounds. In her first game in a Cougar uniform, Cydnie Jones connected on six of her nine attempts as she scored 19 points in 36 minutes of action.
After hitting just 32.3 percent of their field goal attempts in the opening half (10-for-31) the Cougars went 16-for-32 from the floor in the next frame (50 percent) to help seal the victory.
"Early in the year you never know what will happen in the opening games with a new line-up but we did a good job of putting it together," Hardeman said.
The Toros offense was paced by Monay Lee's 15-point effort. Tayler Champion recorded 14 points while Talia Rayford notched a 12-point evening.
Point Loma 63, Cal Poly Pomona 60
In a tight contest throughout, the Sea Lions did enough down the stretch to post the victory over the nation's second ranked team.
The largest lead of the game came in the second when Point Loma had a six-point edge late in the second half. Cal Poly Pomona dwindled that deficit down to three points at had a chance in the closing seconds to tie. With five seconds left, Alex Brunk missed the front end of a one-and-one. The Broncos rushed the ball down the court but Jada Blackwell's three-point at the buzzer didn't connect.
Jessica Escorza led the way with 20 points for the victors. She also grabbed a Sea Lions best seven rebounds. Madison West went 6-for-10 from the field en route to an 18-point evening.
Cal Poly Pomona's offense was paced by Blackwell's 24 points.
Saturday Games
The crossover classic concludes tomorrow:
Cal State Dominguez Hills vs. Point Loma – 5 p.m.
Azusa Pacific vs. Cal Poly Pomona – 7 p.m.
