AZUSA, Calif. – Azusa Pacific won its fourth consecutive PacWest game, as the Cougars claimed an 88-57 win over visiting Hawai'i Hilo on Thursday evening.
Savanna Hanson turned in a big offensive night for the Cougars, scoring 25 points while going 6-for-9 from the three-point line. Hanson also added eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. "Games like this are a result of the work that Savanna puts in when no one is watching," said head coach
T.J. Hardeman, "she is making up for all the time she missed while she was hurt, she seems to always be in the gym preparing and regaining the confidence in her game. It was great to see her come out tonight and perform the way she did."
Molly Whitmore joined Hanson in double figures, with the true freshman scoring a career-high 17 points against the Vulcans. "Molly does so many great things on the floor for us, she is physical, she battles inside, she never shrinks from the moment," said coach Hardeman, "her ceiling is incredibly high and she's just scratching the surface of the player she can be."
Defensively,
Laura Pranger turned in five blocks, while four Cougars had two or more steals, led by Whitmore's three steals.
Azusa Pacific essentially dominated for the entirety of the evening. By the end of the first quarter, the Cougars had built a 22-13 lead by way of a 52% shooting performance from the floor in the first 10 minutes, while holding Hawai'i Hilo to just four made field goals. The Cougars began to open up the lead in the second quarter with a 19-7 run that put Azusa Pacific ahead by 20 points at 41-20 with 2:59 remaining before halftime. Azusa Pacific would enter the locker room at the midway point of the contest up 46-26.
In the second half, Azusa Pacific maintained a lead larger than 20 points, and the Cougars would go up by as much as 36 points at 82-46 with 6:32 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Statistically, Azusa Pacific posted significant advantages in several key categories. First, the Cougars made 30 field goals in the contest, and of those makes, 27 of them were assisted on. "That is a great statistic to see after a game," said head coach
T.J. Hardeman, "it shows that we are excited for one another, setting each other up, and all five on the court are ready to score. That has been an on-going thing we are trying to develop this season, and it has been getting better and better these past few games."
Zoe March led the way as the Cougars' main distributor all evening, as the senior point guard posted eight assists. In addition to March,
Daylee Hanson and
Paige Uyehara were finding their teammates in scoring positions, with each player finishing with five assists in the game. Eight different Cougars had an assist in the victory.
Another key statistic for the Cougars was that they committed just nine turnovers all game, while the Vulcans committed 17 turnovers. "We were very patient tonight," said Coach Hardeman, "I felt that we played at our pace and on our terms, and that is going to result in low turnover numbers. I also go back to our high assist numbers, in that we kept seeking to find each other and were not trying to force anything, and this season, the moments where we try to take too much on individually, we have a lot more turnovers." No Cougar had more than two turnovers in the game.
Azusa Pacific also held the statistical advantage in bench points (40-28) and points in the paint (32-20).
The Cougars are now 13-3 overall, and 7-3 in PacWest play. Azusa Pacific now turns its attention to Saturday's Cornerstone Cup meeting with rival Biola. Since Biola and Azusa Pacific have both been members of the PacWest, the Cougars are 4-0 against the rival Eagles. Tip-off for Saturday's contest is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. in the Felix Event Center in Azusa. Fans are encourage to wear black to the game, as it is a "Blackout" theme for Cougar fans.
