AZUSA, Calif. -- Rachel Bozlee sank a school-record 10 three-pointers to lead Pacific West Conference regular-season champion Azusa Pacific to a 94-70 victory over second-place Dominican Saturday night at the Felix Event Center.
The Cougars, who already had the regular-season league title wrapped up and entered Saturday's matchup with a two-game lead over Dominican, rallied from a double-digit first-half deficit and erupted for 55 points after halftime to win going away. Bozlee hit six of her 10 threes in the second half, breaking her own school single-game record of nine, which she set earlier this year in a PacWest road win over Chaminade.
Bozlee finished with a career-high 32 points, leading a group of five Cougars who scored in double figures, including Senior Night honoree Samantha Huddleston, who scored 10 points with five rebounds and four assists before a postgame ceremony with fellow seniors Meg van Rijn and Madison Lewis.
With the win, Azusa Pacific wraps up the regular season on a seven-game win streak, finishing 24-4 overall and 21-1 in PacWest play. The Cougars have claimed three of the past four PacWest regular-season titles, although this year is the first outright title after co-championships in 2016 and 2018. Dominican finishes in a tie for second place with Hawai'i Pacific at 21-5 overall, 18-4 PacWest.
What's Next: The Cougars are the No. 1-seed in the upcoming PacWest Basketball Championship Tournament, which is hosted by Dominican. Azusa Pacific has a first-round bye and will play in the tournament semifinals on Friday at 7:15 p.m. against the winner of a first-round game between No. 4-seed Point Loma and No. 5-seed Fresno Pacific.
How It Happened: Dominican took the early advantage, shooting 52 percent (14-for-27) from the floor in the first half to take a 45-39 halftime lead. The Penguins led by as many as 11 (25-14) in the second quarter before Bozlee began connecting from long-range with four second-quarter treys. In less than four minutes, Azusa Pacific went on an 18-7 run to pull even at 32-32 with 3:54 left in the second quarter. Dominican pushed the lead back to nine with its own three-point flurry before settling for the six-point halftime edge.
Midway through the third quarter, Bozlee hit a pair of three-pointers on consecutive possessions, pulling Azusa Pacific within one, 52-51, and Alex Lowden's steal and coast-to-coast layup on the Penguins' next trip down the floor pushed the Cougars in front, 53-52, with 4:40 to play in the third. Azusa Pacific never trailed again, and Bozlee drilled another pair of three-pointers in the closing moments of the third quarter to extend the lead to 67-60 heading into the fourth quarter.
Natalie Diaz kept Dominican within striking distance, cutting the lead to 71-67 with 7:06 to play, but Bozlee capped a 12-0 run with her record-tying ninth three-pointer of the game to give the Cougars an 83-67 margin with 3:26 left. Azusa Pacific only gave up three points the rest of the way, and Bozlee extended her own single-game record to 10 with her final shot of the night, a corner three in front of the Cougar bench which extended the lead to 92-70.
Turning Point: Azusa Pacific turned the halftime deficit around with an impressive third quarter, outscoring the Penguins by a 28-15 margin. The Cougars shot 57 percent (12-for-21) in the period while holding Dominican to just 33 percent (5-for-15). Natalie Diaz scored the Penguins' first 10 points of the second half, but she was the only player to score for Dominican Sydney LaRocca hit a free throw with 3:36 left in the third quarter. By that time, Bozlee was up to six three-pointers in the game and Azusa Pacific had the lead for good. LaRocca traded baskets with Azusa Pacific in the paint, as Cierra Roufosse and Laura Pranger each scored inside before Bozlee closed out the quarter with back-to-back threes.
Azusa Pacific Standouts: Bozlee finished with a career-high 32 points, scoring 20 in the second half, and she was one of five Cougars in double figures. Laura Pranger scored 17 points while registering 8 rebounds and 8 blocks, while Savanna Hanson recorded a career-high 17 rebounds to go with 12 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals for her third straight double-double (11th this season). Cierra Roufosse scored 15 points with 7 rebounds and 6 assists, and Samantha Huddleston contributed 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Daylee Hanson dished out a game-high 8 assists and collected 3 steals to help led the Cougars defensively.
More Records: Laura Pranger, who shattered the program's single-game blocks record last week with 10 blocks in a win over Chaminade, is now the program's single-season record holder for blocks with 87. She broke the record previously held by Maggie Dumphy, who recorded 78 blocks in the Cougars' 2015-16 PacWest championship season. The Cougars also recorded 33 assists on their 37 made field goals, tying the program's single-game assists record, which was set in 1998 against Hope International.
Dominican Standouts: Natalie Diaz scored 19 of her team-high 31 points in the second half after Marisa Mondave scored 21 points in the first half but was held scoreless after halftime. Diaz was 13-for-20 from the field, and she grabbed a team-high 8 rebounds and tied Edina del Rosario for the team-high in assists with 5. Sydney LaRocca was the Penguins' third-leading scorer with 6 points, and she collected a game-high 5 steals.
By The Numbers: Azusa Pacific set season-highs in field goals made (37), three-pointers made (15), and assists (33), and the Cougars recorded their second-highest rebounding margin with a 49-26 edge on the boards… The 55-point second-half scoring output also tied the Cougars' season-high for scoring in a half, and the 55-25 second-half margin was Azusa Pacific's largest scoring margin in a half this season… After shooting 40 percent (14-for-35) from the field in the first half, the Cougars were 59 percent (23-for-39) from the floor in the second half… Dominican experienced the opposite trend, shooting 52 percent (14-for-27) in the first half before dipping to 30 percent (9-for-30) after halftime… Azusa Pacific produced a 40-20 advantage in points in the paint, as well as a 20-11 edge in points off turnovers, 16-3 in second chance points, and 26-0 in fast break points.
Senior Spotlight: Samantha Huddleston, Meg van Rijn, and Madison Lewis were honored after the game in Senior Night ceremonies. Huddleston scored 10 points to surpass 500 career points, and she added 5 rebounds and 4 assists in the game as she is also over 400 career rebounds. Van Rijn, a team captain, scored 2 points on her only shot of the game, and she was in the starting lineup for the first time in her career. Lewis has missed the entire season due to injury.
