AZUSA, Calif.-- Returning to their home court for the first time since December 11th, the Cougars extended their winning streak to nine games after defeating Hawai'i Hilo 57-79 Saturday afternoon in the Felix Event Center. They also improved their overall record to 12-1 and 9-0 in PacWest play.
Alex Lowden led the team with a career-high 21 points, shooting 8-9 from the field and 4-4 from the three-point line. She also collected five rebounds, three steals and a block.
Joining Lowden in the double digits club was Kayla Shaw and Laura Pranger with 15 points each and Molly Whitmore added 11. Pranger also had 11 rebounds and three blocks, while Whitmore totaled five rebounds. Paige Uyehara nearly had a double-double with 10 assists and nine points.
How it Happened: The Cougars opened up with a 9-0 run to start the game after a scoring drought within the first few minutes between both teams. Lowden started the action with a defensive block then took it down the court for a layup to score the first points of the game. Whitmore and Shaw got points of their own and Lowden contributed to the scoring run with a three-pointer sending Hawai'i Hilo into a timeout.
The Vulcans clawed their way back to keep the game within four going into the second quarter. But within two minutes of the second quarter, the Cougars cut the game wide open with back to back scores from Whitmore, Pranger, and Kirkman to extend their lead to 10. From here, Azusa Pacific capitalized on two big defensive stops with big scores from Whitmore and Pranger.
Hilo tried to make a comeback and transitioned to full court defense but the Cougars sliced through it just as easily as Kirkman made a nice field goal followed by a three point play by Uyehara to take their lead to 14 with three minutes left in the half. Heimburger seals a layup followed by a triple from Shaw to cap off the first half, 38-27.
The second half consisted of what Azusa Pacific does best, good execution both offensively and defensively to end the game.
Right off the bat, Pranger was able to get a rebound and Whitmore finished the play with a layup to put the Cougars up 13 points. The team showed scoring diversity across their starting five as Lowden, Shaw, Uyehara, and Pranger worked to extend the lead to 60-36 with less than a minute left in the quarter.
The Cougars showed no signs of stopping as they pressed on in the last quarter of the game. They remained composed and controlled and Lowden continued to lead the way after opening up the biggest lead of the game with a triple to give them a 25 point advantage over Hawai'i Hilo with two minutes left of the game.
By the Numbers: Azusa Pacific led the game shooting 50% (31-for-62) from the field goal range while holding Hawai'i Hilo to 31% (20-for-64) shooting. The Cougars also totaled nine triples, 21 assists, 38 rebounds, nine blocks, and nine steals as a team.
Up Next: The Cougars will remain in Azusa for their next three games, however there are no spectators we allowed until further notice. Azusa Pacific will face off against Chaminade on Monday night at 5:15pm, followed by a contest against Hawai'i Pacific on Thursday at 5:15pm. Thee Cougars will end their week of play against Academy of Art on Saturday, January 29th at 1:15pm. All three games can be streamed live for free on the Azusa Pacific Athletics Network.
POSTGAME INTERVIEW - PAIGE UYEHARA & ALEX LOWDEN:
