AZUSA, Calif. – For three quarters the Azusa Pacific shooting effort was as stale as a one month old fruit cake but with a resilient effort they found their sweet shooting touch.

With a strong fourth quarter, the Cougars overcame a feisty Holy Names squad 68-61 in their final game before the Christmas holiday.

Despite hitting just 16 total field goals through three quarters, and four from behind the arc, Azusa Pacific nailed 10 shots in the final quarter – including three shots from deep – to claim the hard fought win.

"You know we worked hard all game. We forced them into a lot of turnovers but we certainly had a hard time finding the bottom of the basket," head coach T.J. Hardeman. "I'm glad to see us fight through the adversity and come out on top."

Gabrielle Kaiser fought through foul trouble to score a game high 19 points in just 23 minutes. The post went 8-for-13 from the floor en route to her solid offensive effort. Abigail Kaiser hit a team best three three-pointer en route to her 14-point game.

Zoe March played a solid 26 minutes as she dished out 11 assists while grabbing seven rebounds and scoring six points.

The Azusa Pacific shooting effort was frigid to start the game. The home team made just one of their first 11 shots but was able to stay within striking distance of the lead by forcing the Hawks into six turnovers. After the opening 10 minutes, Holy Names held a 15-9 lead. The nine points scored by the Cougars tied their second fewest in any quarter this season.

The first four minutes of the second quarter were a significant improvement on the offensive side of the ball. The Cougars made six of the first eight field goals and capped a 14-4 scoring run when Rachel Bozlee converted a three-point with 5:47 until halftime. Holy Names (1-10, 1-4 PacWest) flipped things back in their favor the remainder of the period. Down 23-19, the Hawks completed the stanza on a 10-3 spurt to take a three-point edge (29-26) at the break.

Early in the third quarters all signs pointed in a positive direction. Azusa Pacific scored the first six points to retake the lead at 32-29. However, Holy Names responded and eventually took their largest advantage (41-36) after Taylor Krouse completed a three-point play with 3:12 left in the stanza. The visitors eventually took a 43-40 lead heading into the final period.

To start the final frame the Cougars nailed their first four field goal attempts, with March assisting on three of them, to take a 50-45 lead. Azusa Pacific (5-7, 3-1) never trailed the rest of the way. The Cougars took their biggest lead of the game when a Kaiser lay-in gave her team a 60-52 edge with 3:38 left. Holy Names never got their deficit under one possession down the stretch. During the final quarter the Cougars connected on 10 of their 16 field goal (62.5 percent) attempts.

The victory concludes the 2016 portion of the Cougars schedule. Their next contest is a Jan. 3 PacWest game at Hawaii Hilo.