HAYWARD, Calif. –  There's just something about the Azusa Pacific women's basketball team and the month of March that lends itself to magic.  The Cougars got a game-tying buzzer beater, then held off a game Cal State San Marcos squad, 89-86 in overtime, in the first round of the NCAA West Region tournament at Cal State East Bay.  Paige Uyehara led all scorers with 27 points, while Molly Whitmore had 21 and Laura Pranger added 16.

How It Happened:  The early minutes of the contest were back-and-forth, with both sets of Cougars feeling each other out.  About six minutes into the opening quarter, San Marcos had a 15-13 lead.  That's when Azusa Pacific unleashed a run that brought back some memories of their PacWest semifinal against Biola.  Azusa Pacific outscored their opponents 13-4 over the rest of the quarter, and continued with another 13-4 burst that spanned the first five and a half minutes of the second, giving the Cougars their largest lead of the contest at 39-23.  Azusa Pacific hit five three-point shots as part of this 26-8 run.  San Marcos would go on a 10-2 run of their own to close the gap to eight points at intermission, 41-33.  All eight Azusa Pacific players who played in the first half made at least one field goal, and the Cougars were able to convert seven first-half turnovers by San Marcos into 12 points.

San Marcos narrowed the gap further in the third quarter by pounding the offensive glass.  San Marcos grabbed seven of the first eight rebounds of the second half, including four off their own shots, and retook the lead off an Akayla Hakson three at 51-50.  San Marcos would push the advantage to 57-54 before a Uyehara layup cut the margin to a single point at the end of the third quarter.  The fourth quarter was a defensive struggle, with each side making just a pair of field goals through the first five minutes, with the Cougars using a couple of free throws to narrow the gap to two points at the final media timeout at 63-61.  The teams traded a pair of huge threes late, with Uyehara's shot from the corner pulling Azusa Pacific within a point at 70-69 with less than 1:30 to play.

The teams again traded baskets, with another Uyehara layup again cutting the margin to one.  With only a two-second difference between the game and shot clocks, Azusa Pacific put San Marcos on the free-throw line and San Marcos only made one of two.  The Cougars got Alex Lowden a look for a tying jumper, but it missed and the Cougars had to foul again.  San Marcos again only made one of two and Azusa Pacific again tried for the tie.  Kayla Shaw missed a running three, but Lowden grabbed the offensive rebound and got the ball to Uyehara on the left wing, whose three beat the buzzer and sent the game to overtime.

In the overtime, Whitmore went to work, scoring the Cougars' first 10 points of the extra session as the Cougars built a six-point advantage at 88-82.  Uyehara made three free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the Cougars' sixth consecutive victory in NCAA West Region play going back to 2019.

By the Numbers:  Uyehara had 17 of her 27 points in the second half and overtime.  Despite San Marcos grabbing 21 offensive rebounds, Azusa Pacific enjoyed a 23-10 advantage in second-chance points, and outscored San Marcos in the paint by a narrow 42-40 margin.  Whitmore had a team-high nine rebounds, while Pranger added to her PacWest blocks record with seven.  Uyehara and Lowden each had five assists in the game.  The Cougars are now 3-1 all-time against Cal State San Marcos.