AZUSA, Calif. – Azusa Pacific finished the week with an 82-73 win against Dominican on Saturday afternoon. With the win, they extended their winning streak to ten, improved their overall record to 20-3, their Conference record to 15-1.They also still remain undefeated at home (9-0).
In their third game of the week, Paige Uyehara was able to tie her career high with 28 points while shooting 10-for-13 from the field including 5-for-6 from beyond the arc. Kelly Heimburger trailed with 18 points of her own and a team-high 13 rebounds.
How it Happened: Although Heimburger kicked off the scoring for the Cougars, the Penguins came out ready to play and did not put up an easy fight.
Between Uyehara and Heimburger alone, the Cougars put up 15 points to Dominican's 14 points within the first seven minutes of the first quarter. With 2:42 left in the quarter, Dominican scored off a jumper countered by a free-throw by Lowden and another three-pointer from Uyehara to put the Cougars up by three with a minute left.
In the final minute, the Penguins put up six points to another jumper from Uyehara to take the one-point lead heading into the second quarter.
Turning Point: Down 21-22 at the start of the second quarter, the Cougars scored 17 points while holding the Penguins to only five. Now with an 11-point lead at the 5 minute mark, the Penguins fought back with two free throws followed by a jumper to make the score 31-38 with less than three minutes left in the half.
The game went back and forth until the last minute when the Cougars broke away with a six-point run to end the half making the score 46-35 heading into the locker rooms.
Although the remainder of the game started to go back and forth between the Cougars and Penguins, Azusa Pacific would hold onto the lead the remainder of the game.
With 4:14 left in the game, the Cougars began to slip away by gaining the largest lead of the game with a 15-point advantage on Dominican.
And despite Dominican putting up 38 points in the second half against the Cougars' 36 points, their lead at halftime would carry them into a 82-73 win.
By the Numbers: In the first half alone, the Cougars were 7-for-12 (58.3%) from behind the rainbow and overall shot 10-for-20 to Dominican who were 6-for-22 from beyond the rainbow. Across the game, the Cougars shot 29-for-59 (49.2%) while holding their opponent to 24-62 (38.7%).
Up Next: After playing three home games this week, Azusa Pacific will enjoy a week-long break before taking on cross-town rival, Biola, for the second time this season. Saturday's game will take place in La Mirada and tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
