AZUSA, Calif. – During the first Azusa Pacific sporting event of the new year, the women's basketball team defeated Fresno Pacific 67-62. The Cougars are now 11-3 this season with a 6-1 conference record. They are also 4-0 in the Felix Event Center.

Paige Uyehara led the team with 20 points, which is her second-highest-scoring game of the season so far. Uyehara finished 8-for-14 (57%) from the floor, while also grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out six assists. 

TyLee Manuel contributed to the win with 14 points of her own, making it her tenth game of the season in which she scored in double digits. She also had eight rebounds. Molly Whitmore and Kelly Heimburger joined Uyehara and Manuel in double figures, with each scoring 10 points, while Whitmore grabbed eight rebounds and Heimburger had three blocked shots. 

How it Happened: After the first two minutes of the first quarter, Alex Lowden scored the first points of the game from the free-throw line. Fresno Pacific answered just a few seconds later with a three-pointer and two free-throws to take the 5-2 lead.

Throughout the rest of the game, the Cougars would never let the Sunbirds have more than a three point advantage over them.

Down 7-4 with 4:15 left in the quarter, Uyehara scored her first layup of the game plus the extra point. Then within a minute, Amayah Kirkman followed her up with a three-pointer and a layup from Molly Whitmore to give the Cougars a 12-7 lead. 

The rest of the quarter went back and forth before Manuel made two free throws followed by another layup from Whitmore to give the Cougars a 20-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Within the first two minutes of the second quarter, the Sunbirds scored back-to-back layups, but Uyehara delivered with a four point run of her own to make the score 24-17 in favor of the Cougars with 6:45 left in the half.

Uyehara would go on to score the team's entire 13 points in the second quarter against Fresno Pacific's 19 points. The Cougars entered halftime with a one-point lead (33-32).

Then, from the start of the third quarter to 3:38 left on the clock, the Cougars outscored the Sunbirds 18-5 to give them a 51-37 lead, their largest lead of the game. But Fresno Pacific finally answered with a nine-point run of their own to cut their deficit to 46-53 heading into the final quarter of the game.

With the Cougars' leading 57-51 in the fourth, the teams continued to go back and forth until there were less than five minutes on the clock. Across the next four minutes, Uyehara, Whitmore, Manuel, and Heimburger put together two points each to go on an eight-point run and gain a 12-point lead on the Sunbirds.

Down 67-55 with about a minute left in the game, Fresno Pacific tried to make a comeback but it was too late. They held the Cougars from scoring again but were only able to string together 7 more points to finish the game losing 62-67.

By the Numbers: The Cougars were 10-for-10 from the free-throw line with 39 total rebounds. They scored 15 points off the Sunbirds' 12 turnovers and put together 38 points in the paint alone. Azusa Pacific was 27-68 (39%) from the floor, including 16-for 33 (48.5%) over the final two quarters.