AZUSA, Calif. – The Cougars found themselves in an unusual place early but responded late to get what they have become accustom to.
A last second lay-in from Cydnie Jones gave Azusa Pacific their sixth straight win as they knocked off Hawaii Pacific 57-55.
The game winning play came when Allison Greene in-bounded the ball to a cutting Jones underneath the hoop with just a few tenths of a second on the clock.
A nip-and-tuck battle throughout, the lead changed hands on eight times and was tied on seven other occasions. Down at intermission for the first time since Dec. 5 Azusa Pacific battled to claim the victory.
"They are a really good team. They are really well coached and they battled the entire game," said head coach T.J. Hardeman. "I like the way our defense played. We were well prepared and, for the most part, we had a good idea of what we were doing. Offensively we struggled a bit but defense can get you through nights like that night."
From the opening tip the Sharks showed why they have the league's top rated defense as they held Azusa Pacific to just five made field goals on 14 attempts (35.7 percent) in the first quarter. However, the Cougars second ranked defense limited Hawaii Pacific to just a 38.5 percent as they held a 19-17 edge after 10 minutes.
The second quarter was an offensive struggle early as the team's combined for just five points in the first five-plus minutes. With 3:35 left a Jones lay-up completed a 9-0 scoring spurt for the Cougars as they went ahead 26-17. However, the visitors closed the half on an 11-2 run of their own to take a 28-27 halftime lead. It was the first halftime deficit in their last 10 games.
In the third quarter neither team held a lead bigger than three points to set a nail biting fourth frame. Azusa Pacific to a seemingly comfortable 50-44 lead with 6:42 left on a Greene lay-up. Even though the Sharks never led in the stanza they tied the score at 55-55 with 2:38 left on a Breanna MacKenzie lay-up.
During the final minutes each team had opportunities to take the lead but the basket wouldn't deposit any of the shot attempts. The Cougars had one possession with five offensive rebounds but still came up empty handed. The Cougars finish was set-up when MacKenzie turned the ball over with 30 seconds left. After the Sharks defense knocked the ball out of bounds with 0.3 seconds left, the Cougars drew up a play for the winner at the horn.
"That last play was awesome. You know, it's an old play from the L.A. Clippers. When you have a player like Allison who can put the ball in the right spot it helps with the execution of what needs to be a perfect play," T.J. Hardeman said.
Leading way in scoring was Kelly Hardeman. The senior scored 15 points and fell just one rebound short of her 11th double-double. Jones scored 11 points in 31 minutes to round out the double figure scorers.
Despite shooting a season low 31.3 percent (21-for-67) the 23rd ranked Cougars pulled out the victory in large part because they forced 21 Hawaii Pacific turnovers. For their part the Sharks shot 40.7 percent (22-for-54) from the floor. Azusa Pacific held a 25-10 edge in points off turnovers.
The Cougars take the next four days off before hosting BYU-Hawaii on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
