AZUSA, Calif. - To say No. 24 Azusa Pacific had a comeback victory over Cal Poly Humboldt on Friday evening at the Thanksgiving Classic would be an understatement. The Cougars found themselves in a 23-point hole at 44-21 with under three minutes to play in the second quarter, but when the final buzzer rang, the scoreboard announced the Cougars as 87-64 victors, capping off a 46 point swing over the final 23 minutes of play.

Amayah Kirkman led the Cougar offense, scoring 18 of her career-high 27 points over the final two quarters of play. Kirkman, known for her ability to shoot from three, did most of her damage on the drive and from midrange, going 7-for-9 from the floor in the second half, with just two of those field goals coming from beyond-the-arc. Kirkman also had seven rebounds. Sabrina Belquist finished with 17 points, knocking down four of seven attempts from three. TyLee Manuel had a near double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Paige Uyehara was the fourth Cougar to finish in double figures, scoring 11 points and dishing out seven steals, despite playing just 20 minutes due to foul trouble. Kelly Heimburger made an impact in a variety of ways throughout the contest, hauling in a game-high nine rebounds, adding eight points, and recording three steals and two blocks.

How It Happened: The difference between the first half and the second half could be classified as drastic to say the least. Over the first and second quarters, the Lumberjacks shot 60% from the floor, including 5-for-9 from deep, while the Cougars went 10-for-30 overall (33%), and 4-for-11 from distance (36%). Over the first 20 minutes of play, the Cougars committed 11 turnovers, which Cal Poly Humboldt turned into 19 points, while Azusa Pacific generated just five points off of four Lumberjack turnovers. Cal Poly Humboldt scored 20 of its 44 points in the paint, while the Cougars had six points in the lane. At the break, the Lumberjacks looked to be in full control with a 44-27 lead. However, things were not as they appeared.

The halftime break woke the Cougars up, and the hosts came out of the locker room to dominate both ends of the floor, out-scoring Cal Poly Humboldt by a 35-9 margin in the third.  The Cougars shot 75% overall in the third (12-for-16), including 4-for-6 from three, while they held the Lumberjacks to just 3-for-13 shooting (25%). After committing 11 turnovers over the first two quarters, the Cougars committed zero in the third, while they turned six Cal Poly turnovers into 10 points. Azusa Pacific also flipped the script in the paint, posting a 14-2 advantage in the third on points in the pain.

The fourth quarter was much of the same, with Azusa Pacific scoring 25 points over the final 10 minutes, while the Lumberjacks could only muster 11 points. The Cougars scored 14 of their 25 fourth quarter points in the paint. On the defensive end, Azusa Pacific held Cal Poly to just 4-for-18 shooting from the floor in the fourth. 

By the Numbers: Due to the drastic swing in momentum from the first two quarters to the last two quarters, the final box score was fairly even between the two teams. The most significant differences were on the offensive glass, in which the Cougars tallied 18 offensive rebounds that resulted in 13 second chance points, while the Lumberjacks had 12 rebounds on the offensive end, which they turned into six points. From beyond-the-arc, Azusa Pacific hit 11 triples (11-for-27), while Cal Poly Humboldt went 6-for-20. 

Up Next: The Cougars improve to 5-3 overall, while Cal Poly Humboldt falls to 1-2. Azusa Pacific is back on the court tomorrow at 4:00 pm, when the Cougars host Western Oregon to close out the annual Thanksgiving Classic. There will not be a livestream of tomorrow's contest.