AZUSA, Calif. – It was nothing but a good time on Monday evening.
Dating back three seasons, the Cougars won their ninth straight game played on Mondays as they easily dispatched of Chaminade 83-57.
Abigail Goodsell had another stellar game for the Cougars. The junior scored 13 points, her fifth straight double figure scoring effort, while dishing out a team season high 12 assists. She also grabbed six rebounds. In 31 minutes she didn't have any turnovers.
Not to be outdone, Casey Wortley scored 17 points on the strength of a 6-for-9 shooting effort in just over 20 minutes. Tara Casey and Gabrielle Kaiser rounded out the double digit scorers with 12 points each.
"I was really pleased with how we executed our offense today," said head coach T.J. Hardeman. "We had a bit of a slow start but once we start moving the ball everything went quite well. Our posts did a great job inside and Abigail played a really smart game."
Down low the Cougars outscored Chaminade in the paint 36-18 while also holding a 19-2 edge in points off turnovers.
A rough opening quarter saw the teams combine for 12 turnovers as the Cougars held an 18-14 lead after the first stanza. Chaminade's seven turnovers resulted in eight points for Azusa Pacific. As the second frame unfolded the Cougars slowly nudged their advantage into double figures. Chaminade pulled within one-point twice but never closer. Azusa Pacific (11-10, 9-4 PacWest) scored 11 of the final 17 points of the frames to take a 37-27 lead at halftime.
During the opening minutes of the third period, Azusa Pacific all but put the game away. In just under four minutes the Cougars went on a 10-4 scoring spurt to take a 47-31 edge. Chaminade (3-16, 3-12) tried to stem the tide with a timeout but it did no good. The Cougars connected on 12 of their 22 field goal attempts, including a 3-for-5 effort from behind the arc, in building a 67-44 lead after 30 minutes.
The final period was academic as the Cougars unloaded their bench in pulling away for their season best fourth straight win.
