LA MIRADA, Calif. – Coming into Saturday night's game against Biola, Azusa Pacific knew they were just one more win away from a third-consecutive PacWest title. Although the Eagles put up a fight, Kelly Heimburger hit a three-pointer in the last second of the game to clinch the title for the Cougars.
With the 50-47 win, Azusa Pacific extended their winning streak to 19 games while remaining undefeated in PacWest play with a 17-0 record. Their overall record stands at 23-3 with three games remaining before the Conference tournament in March.
Heimburger led the team with 25 points, nearly tying her career-high 27-point game in December. Molly Whitmore contributed 10 points to the Cougars' win while also leading the team with nine rebounds. Paige Uyehara dealt a team-high four assists while getting three steals and adding seven points of her own.
How It Happened: The Eagles jumped to an early 3-0 lead to start the game but just a few minutes later, Heimburger responded with two three-pointers within a minute to bring the game to 8-7 with 6:08 left in the quarter.
The game continued back and forth until the Eagles, up 11-10, went on an eight-point scoring run to make it a nine-point game. Although Amayah Kirkman was able to score a fast break layup before the end of the quarter, the Cougars entered rare territory down by 7 as they headed into the second quarter.
Within the first minute of the second quarter, Heimburger knocked down her third triple of the game to cut the Cougars' deficit to four. Yet, back-to-back layups from Biola gave them a 23-15 lead with eight minutes to go before halftime.
Azusa Pacific stayed in it though as Audrey Sayoc responded with a three-pointer and Paige Uyehara knocked down a mid-range jump shot to bring the game back within three points.
The action continued as Heimburger knocked down two critical free throws followed by a layup from Amayah Kirkman which tied the game at 28-28 with 2:33 left in the half. Both teams exchanged layups but Biola got the final word scoring a layup with 1:08 to go giving the team a 32-30 lead going into halftime.
Turning Point: Once again, Heimburger knocked down another three-pointer to start the quarter and to give the Cougars their first lead since four minutes into the game. The Cougars maintained their lead for the rest of the half while holding Biola to only seven points across the third quarter.
With a 42-39 lead, Heimburger got the first score of the fourth quarter with a layup to put the Cougars up by five. Just thirty seconds later, Biola's Jordan Rabe responded with a layup of her own.
Across the next four minutes of the game, both teams were unable to score aside from a single free throw from Kirkman until finally, Whitmore scored a layup to give the Cougars a 47-41 lead with four minutes left in the game.
Following a six-minute scoring drought for the Eagles, Biola went on a six-point run in the last two minutes to tie the game at 47-47 with 58 seconds left.
The final play of the game was set up as Heimburger got a steal off Biola's Natasa Radovic which then led to her last-second three-pointer to clinch the Cornerstone Cup rivalry game and the PacWest Conference title.
By the Numbers: The Cougars led from the three-point line as Heimburger scored five of the team's seven triples outscoring the Eagles who only had four three-pointers on 19 attempts. Azusa Pacific was also able to take advantage of the Eagles' 14 turnovers by converting them into 15 points. When it came to rebounding, the Cougars also won with 41 total boards versus the Eagles' 32 rebounds.
Dating back to March of 1979, Azusa Pacific is now 58-29 overall against Biola while also defeating both times this season. Since 2018, the Cougars have won 15 of the last 17 matchups.
Up Next: The Cougars will return home for a two-game home stand with their first game on Thursday against Hawai'i Pacific at 5:15 p.m. Next Saturday, the Cougars will host Concordia for Senior Night on Homecoming weekend. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:15 p.m.
