AZUSA, Calif. – The Azusa Pacific women's basketball team made it to the PacWest championship game against Hawai'i Pacific. If that sounds familiar, it should, because this is exactly the situation the Cougars found themselves in last March. Unfortunately, the result remained the same, and Azusa Pacific once again fell to Hawai'i Pacific, 68-57 Saturday afternoon at the Felix Event Center.
Facing the Sharks for the third time this season, Azusa Pacific came prepared for a physical battle, and the first half was a low-scoring, back-and-forth tussle that produced a narrow 27-25 lead for the Cougars at intermission. Neither team shot the ball well, each making just three field goals in the second quarter. But the Cougars were doing a good job of crashing the boards and it was an
Alex Lowden layup off an offensive rebound that put the home team ahead going into the locker room.
Azusa Pacific would hold onto the lead for most of the third quarter, stretching the advantage to as much as five points on a pair of occasions, including a
Savanna Hanson three-pointer, one of only three the team would make all game. But the Sharks would close the quarter on a 9-2 run to take the lead for good. The Cougars would cut the deficit to one on a pair of occasions early in the final quarter, but a 12-2 run by Hawai'i Pacific proved decisive as the Sharks won the conference tournament for the third consecutive season.
Among the most telling stats in the game was the Cougars' cold night shooting from long range, where they went just 3-25 on the night. While the Cougars won the rebounding battle 54-40, including 24 offensive boards, they were only able to convert those into 14 second-chance points. Those issues, combined with 18 turnovers, proved too much to overcome against a Hawai'i Pacific squad that has now won 25 games in a row.
Daylee Hanson led the Cougars in scoring for the second game in a row, finishing with 20 points and 8 rebounds.
Savanna Hanson had a double-double, with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Daylee, along with
Laura Pranger, were named to the all-tournament team.
The Cougars were ranked sixth in the final set of regional rankings on Wednesday and now await Sunday evening's selection show to find out if they will be included in the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The brackets will be unveiled Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. Pacific time. If the Cougars make the field, their first round game will take place on Friday.
