Box Score BELMONT, Calif. – With a big game looming in the near future, the Cougars could have been caught looking ahead.
A scoring spurt midway through the second half played major part in Azusa Pacific's 68-59 win over Notre Dame de Namur on Thursday evening.
The win improves the Cougars record to 7-4 overall and 3-1 in PacWest play as the travel to San Francisco for Saturday 1:00 p.m. contest against defending league champion and preseason conference favorite Academy of Art.
Azusa Pacific overcame a rough shooting night against the Argonauts to post the win. Despite hitting just 23 of their 61 field attempts (37.7 percent), the Cougars forced Notre Dame de Namur (2-9, 0-4) into 23 turnovers and held a 43-35 rebounding edge to offset the tough shooting night.
"Notre Dame de Namur played well tonight. They were a scrappy team all game and I give them a lot of credit for how they played. Anytime you can go on the road and come away with a win, it's a good thing," said head coach T.J. Hardeman. "We had contributions from a variety of players. Even though we weren't hitting our shots we did played hard."
A tightly played contest throughout Azusa Pacific broke open the contest with 11:02 left in the game. Neither team held a lead in double figures during the game but the Cougars broke a 46-46 tie and took their biggest lead when they went on a 14-1 scoring run to grab a 59-46 edge with 2:50 left.
The home tried to respond in the game's waning moments but couldn't pull any closer than a five-point spread. For the second straight game the Cougars sealed the game with solid shooting from the foul line. Azusa Pacific connected on eight of their final 10 shots from the charity stripe in claiming the victory.
Kelly Hardeman led the way in the scoring column with a game high 22 points. The junior recorded her seventh double-double of the season by grabbing a team high 10 rebounds. She is 34 points away from 1,000 career points and becoming the 23rd player in school history to hit the milestone.
Miriam Zabinsky went for 15 points in 35 minutes while Maggie Dumphy rounded out the double figure scorers for the Cougars with a 10-point evening. Dumphy also contributed down low by grabbing eight rebounds.
Azusa Pacific is now 7-0 all-time against the Argonauts.
