SAN MARCOS, Calif. -- No. 5 Azusa Pacific found itself down in the fourth quarter, but the Cougars would battle back and claim a 67-61 overtime win against Seattle Pacific. It was the program's fourth consecutive win against Seattle Pacific.

Kelly Heimburger and Alex Lowden led the way for the Cougars, with Heimburger scoring a game-high 17 points and Lowden grabbed 12 rebounds while adding nine points. Heimburger also posted three steals and two blocks on the defensive end. Kayla Shaw and Paige Uyehara joined Heimburger in double figures, with Shaw putting up 13 points and Uyehara scoring 12. Shaw also tallied four steals and four assists. 

How it Happened: A little over halfway through the first quarter, Seattle Pacific held a 10-6 lead with 4:54 on the clock. Azusa Pacific would lock in on the defensive end over the remainder of the quarter, as the Falcons scored just two points over the final four minutes, while the Cougars put up 10 points over that stretch to take a 16-12 lead into the second. 

On the Cougars' first possession of the second quarter, Heimburger hit a triple to put Azusa Pacific up 19-12, which would match its biggest lead in the contest. Over the next three minutes, the Falcons went on a 10-2 run to take a 22-21 advantage with 7:21 remaining before halftime. After four lead changes over the next three minutes, a layup by Seattle Pacific's Natalie Hoff put the Falcons up 29-26, and the Cougars would trail for the remainder of the second half. Following a triple from Shaw at the buzzer, the halftime score was 32-31 in favor of Seattle Pacific.

To open the third, Azusa Pacific got a stop on its first defensive possession, and the Cougars then went down on offense where Molly Whitmore was able to give her team a 33-32 lead off of a layup. After a few scoreless minutes for both teams, Seattle Pacific would take the lead back at 34-33, but Lowden responded with a three-pointer that put the Cougars up 36-34. Lowden's shot marked the start of a 13-2 run for Azusa Pacific over the next three minutes, as the Cougars matched their largest lead of the contest when they went up 42-35 with 3:15 to go in the third. The Falcons would battle right back, scoring nine unanswered to close out the third with a 44-42 lead.

Through the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, Seattle Pacific outscored the Cougars by a 9-4 margin, leading to the Falcons largest lead of the game at 53-46 with 4:13 left in regulation. As has been the case on multiple occasions this season, Azusa Pacific would respond with its back against the wall. The Cougars were able to erase the deficit over the next few minutes, tying the game at 55-55 with a 1:13 on the clock. With a little over 30 seconds left on the clock, the Cougars were able to get a stop on the defensive end and gain possession of the ball with a chance to win the game. With just six seconds on the clock, Shaw drove the lane and drew the attention of multiple defenders, allowing her to drop it off to a wide-open Whitmore who put it up and in to give the Cougars a 57-55 lead. However, Seattle Pacific would take a pair of timeouts, and with just two seconds on the clock, the Falcons' Ashley Alter delivered a game-tying layup to force overtime.

Turning Point: Azusa Pacific was able to put the game away quickly in overtime, by scoring eight unanswered to grab a 65-47 advantage with 2:45 left. From that point on, the Falcons would get no closer than six points.

By the Numbers: Perhaps the most telling stat of the contest was points off turnovers, where Azusa Pacific forced the Falcons into 21 turnovers, scoring 19 points off of those opportunities. In overtime alone, the Cougar defense forced five turnovers and scored seven points off of those miscues. In the Cougars' two overtime games this season, Azusa Pacific has outscored its opponents by a 17-7 margin and is 2-0.