FRESNO, Calif. - No. 25 Azusa Pacific found itself in a hard-fought battle for nearly three and a half quarters, but the Cougars pulled away down the stretch to capture a 71-61 road victory over Fresno Pacific on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Cougars are now 7-2 overall, and 2-0 in PacWest play.

Four Cougars reached double-figures in scoring, led by 17 points from Kelly Heimburger, who also grabbed six rebounds. Molly Whitmore scored 16 points (7-for-9 shooting) and had seven rebounds, while TyLee Manuel added 15 points. Paige Uyehara added 12 points, to go along with four assists. On the glass, Alex Lowden secured a game-high 10 rebounds, and she also had three steals, three blocks, and three assists.

How It Happened: Over the 40 minutes of action, there were 14 lead changes and 10 ties between the two teams. In the early going, the two teams were locked at a 15-15 score with a little over a minute and a half left in the first quarter, but the Sunbirds scored seven unanswered to grab a 22-15 advantage going into the second.

With just under eight minutes to go before halftime, Fresno Pacific was up 23-16, but the Cougars would go on an 8-0 run to go ahead 24-23 with 5:49 on the clock. Over the remainder of the quarter, there were four lead changes, and at the break, it was the Sunbirds in the lead at 31-29.

Four minutes into the third, Fresno Pacific went up 43-37, which turned out to be the host's largest lead over the final two quarters. While the Cougars were able to even the score at 43-43, Azusa Pacific would not take the lead in the third, and Fresno Pacific entered the fourth up 52-49.

Manuel scored on each of the Cougars' first two possessions of the fourth quarter, which put Azusa Pacific up 53-52. While a Sunbird triple put Fresno Pacific back up at 55-53, Amayah Kirkman responded with a three that put the Cougars ahead for good at 56-55 with seven minutes to play. Kirkman's three started an 11-0 run, which was capped off by a Whitmore layup that put Azusa Pacific ahead by a 67-55 tally with 2:28 remaining. The margin would remain in double-digits for the remainder of the contest.

By The Numbers: The Cougars were able to overcome struggles from beyond-the-arc (3-for-18) by racking up 38 points in the paint, while also going 16-for-20 from the charity stripe, which is a season-high for the Cougars in both attempts and in makes. Overall, Fresno Pacific shot better than the Cougars from the floor, finishing 22-for-54 (41%) overall and 7-for-14 from three. Azusa Pacific shot 38% (26-for-69) for the contest. On the glass, the Cougars had a 38-31 rebounding advantage, including a commanding 16-9 advantage on the offensive boards. The Cougars finished with 16 second chance points. Fresno Pacific was forced into 18 turnovers, which Azusa Pacific converted into 24 points. 

Up Next: The Cougars will return home for their first PacWest home contests this week, when they host Concordia at 5:15 pm on Wednesday (Dec. 5), and Point Loma at 2:15 pm on Saturday (Dec. 10) in the Felix Event Center.