The Cougars used a strong second half effort to pull away from a very game Point Loma squad to post a 77-61 victory on Saturday evening.

Azusa Pacific extends their season long winning streak to eight games while snapping the Sea Lions win streak at eight. Also with the triumph the Cougars officially clinched a spot at the season ending league tournament beginning on March 3 at Concordia University in Irvine, Calif.

In Saturday's contest Cydnie Jones was a one-person wrecking crew and she posted her third double-double of the season. The senior scored 21 points while grabbing 12 rebounds and dishing out four assists. She hit a Cougars individual season high six shots from behind the arc.

"Cydnie had an outstanding game tonight. If she has that kind of game on a regular basis this team is going to be playing deep in the playoffs," head coach T.J. Hardeman said. "She helped us break down Point Loma's defense."

A solid Sea Lions defense was limiting the opposition to the third lowest scoring total in the league (61.4 points per game) heading into the game. A tightly played first two quarters had the Cougars (20-3, 14-1 PacWest) leading for all but two minutes of game. None the less the visitors kept Azusa Pacific close as the Cougars couldn't get a lead larger than nine points. Azusa Pacific nailed 40.6 percent (13-for-32) while limiting their opponents to a 32.3 shooting clip (10-for-31) in taking a 37-31 lead at intermission.

"I thought in the second half we started to get comfortable against their defense. You don't see a lot of zone defense in this league so it took us some time to get used to it," said Hardeman. "Point Loma is a well coached team that plays with a high IQ. I think we wore them down a bit which really helped us pull away."

Azusa Pacific continued to hold at least a two possession lead throughout most of the third quarter before grabbing a double figure advantage with 2:08 left in the stanza. Heading into the final quarter the Cougars held a 57-48 edge.

To open the final frame, the Cougars scored seven straight points and never let Point Loma (16-6, 9-5) back within single digits the rest of the way to seal the win.

Also playing a big role in the victory was Kelly Hardeman's 19-point, nine-rebound evening. Maggie Dumphy continued her solid play underneath the hoop with six blocks in addition to her nine points. Allison Greene notched an 11-point performance to go along with her game high seven assists.

Sydney Tonack had a team high 15 points to pace the Sea Lions.