AZUSA, Calif. – It was a bittersweet Saturday evening in the Felix Event Center as the Cougars won their final home game of the regular season 71-56 over Concordia to cap off a memorable Senior Night.
During their time with Azusa Pacific, seniors Kayden Casey, Paige Uyehara, TyLee Manuel, and Molly Whitmore have been a part of three consecutive PacWest regular season championships, two PacWest tournament titles, a 2021 West Region championship, and an overall record of 113-22 including their most recent win.
With tonight's win, the team advances to an overall record of 25-3 which includes their 21-game winning streak and 19-0 Conference record. Against the Golden Eagles, Whitmore led the team with a season-high 22 points while going 10-for-11 from the free-throw line and grabbing a team-best 11 rebounds. Kelly Heimburger contributed 14 points and ten rebounds to the win while Uyehara and Amayah Kirkman had 11 points each.
How it Happened: While the Cougars started with a 4-0 lead, Concordia responded with a jumper and three-pointer to take their only lead of the game. From there, the Cougars went on an 11-2 scoring run over the next two minutes to make the score 15-7 with 4:40 left in the first quarter.
While the Cougars maintained a steady lead for the rest of the period Heimburger knocked down a jumper with two seconds left to give Azusa Pacific a ten-point lead.
Although the Golden Eagles scored a quick five points to make the score 16-21 to start the second quarter, the Cougars answered with four of their own points to bring their lead back to nine points.
With 6:27 left in the half, Concordia knocked down a three-pointer and another jumper to bring the game within four points. Over the remaining four minutes in the period, Whitmore and Heimburger were the only ones to score as they each knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Cougars a 29-21 lead going into halftime.
To start the third quarter, the Cougars started hot with a quick nine-point scoring run to give them a 38-21 lead with six minutes still to go in the period.
While the teams went back and forth scoring for the rest of the quarter, it was Uyehara who got the final basket scoring a triple with nine seconds left to send the Cougars into the final period of the game with a 52-33 lead.
Uyehara then started the next period with another triple as Manuel continued to pour it on with another two points of her own to put the Cougars up by 24.
Although the Cougars maintained a tight grip on their 20-point plus or minus lead for the remainder of the quarter, the Golden Eagles were able to piece together seven unanswered points over the final two minutes to cut their deficit to 15.
By the Numbers: While the Cougars typically have a strong showing from beyond the arc, it was the Golden Eagles who dominated from the three-point line shooting 8-for-19 (42%) as opposed to the Cougars' 4-for-20 (20%) shooting. However, the Cougars made up for it at the free-throw line shooting 19-for-22 (86%) compared to the Golden Eagles who shot 10-for-16 (62%). Azusa Pacific's 19 made shots from the line was a season-best for the team. Additionally, the Cougars dominated down low outscoring Concordia 30-20 in the paint, and also had a team total of 47 rebounds compared to the Golden Eagles' 39.
Up Next: The Cougars will go on the road to face Fresno Pacific next Saturday at 2 p.m. for their final game of the regular season. The following week, the Cougars will participate in the PacWest Tournament in San Diego.
