HONOLULU, Hawaii– No. 3 Azusa Pacific gets the job done once again with their fourteenth consecutive win Saturday afternoon over Hawaii Pacific. The 81-64 road win improved the Cougars' overall record to 17-1 and 13-0 in Conference.

Kayla Shaw scored a game-high 20 points shooting 7-for-15 from the FG and 4-11 from the 3 point line. Molly Whitmore followed by scoring a season-high 19 points, shooting 9-for-13 from the field and grabbing 9 rebounds. Paige Uyehara totaled 16 points of her own (6-for-14) including a team-high 7 assists and 3 steals. 

How it Happened: Both teams struggled to find their rhythm this time as the first points of the game came at the 7:28 mark in the form of a triple from Kayla Shaw. A few possessions later, Shaw, shooting 91% from the charity stripe this season, nailed 2 free throws followed by a layup from Whitmore and Pranger to give the Cougars a quick 9-0 lead.

Hawaii Pacific started to warm up from the three point line to finish the quarter with 12 of their 17 points behind the rainbow. Uyehara answers by ending the quarter with a 3 pointer of her own to send the Cougars into the second quarter with a 23-17 lead. 

Azusa Pacific begins to slice the game open as Molly Whitmore takes control with back to back layups to put the team up by 10. A few possessions later, Amayah Kirkman connects with Laura Pranger for a layup followed by another field goal by Whitmore. 

Off a screen, Kirkman is able to get a triple of her own to contribute to the team's 13 point run putting them up 34-17 with 6:40 left in the second quarter. 

As Hawaii Pacific starts a little run of their own, Uyehara shuts that down by connecting with Shaw for a triple before shooting one herself to put the team up 42-26. The Sharks answer with a three and Shaw responds with another for her fourth triple of the game.

The Cougars entered halftime with a 46-32 lead after shooting 43% (17-for-39) while holding their opponent to 33% (11-for-33). Both teams shot at 41% from the three point line as Azusa Pacific shot 7-for-17 compared to Hawaii Pacific with 6-for-14. 

Turning Point: Although the Sharks started the second half with the ball, the Cougars started to take their lead and ran as they converted multiple offensive rebounds into layups and dominated in transition off fast break points. 

Whitmore took control scoring 9 points in the paint between 6 minutes of play to give the Cougars a 59-40 advantage over the Sharks with 3 minutes left in the third quarter. Following Whitmore's surge, layups from Shaw, Uyehara, and Manuel contributed to the 15-0 run the Cougars were building up to put the team up by 27 with a minute left. 

Going into the final quarter of the game with a score of 69-44, Kirkman and Manuel put up 7 points together before Hawaii Pacific attempted to cut the deficit. Although they tried, the Cougars held their ground winning 81-64. 

By the Numbers: Scoring 23 points in each of the first three quarters, the Cougars led from all over. The team averaged 45% (32-for-71) from the FG range with 8 triples compared to the Sharks who shot 34% (22-for-63) from the field. Azusa Pacific also scored 25 second chance points off 49 rebounds total and were also able to score 22 points off the Sharks' 18 turnovers. 

44 of the team's 81 points came from the paint and 31 of those points came from Whitmore, Manuel, Pranger, and Heimburger alone. 

Up Next: The Cougars will finish out their Hawaii series with a contest against Chaminade Monday afternoon at 4:30pm (HT) / 6:30pm (PT). Live stats for the game can be found here.