AZUSA, Calif. – On Saturday afternoon, Azusa Pacific picked up an 82-53 win over Dominican to extend their 16-game winning streak. By defeating the Penguins, who sit in second place in the Conference, the Cougars remain undefeated in PacWest play with a 14-0 Conference record and 20-3 overall record.
Kelly Heimburger led the game with 19 points and a season-high six blocks, while also grabbing four rebounds. She also played lock-down defense on Keyonee Neal by not allowing the former PacWest Freshman of the Year to score a single point in the whole first half while also blocking four of her shots.
Amayah Kirkman contributed to the win with a double-double performance including 17 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. TyLee Manuel rounded out the double-digit scoring with 16 points while also grabbing seven boards.
How It Happened: The Cougars put up the first points of the game as Kirkman knocked down a three-pointer followed by a jumper by Heimburger. Dominican put up back-to-back shots from behind the rainbow but each time, Manuel would answer with a jumper down low to keep the team's lead.
Up 11-6 just under halfway through the first quarter, Heimburger knocked down a triple to extend the team's lead to eight. A few minutes later, she knocked down both free throws, followed by a jumper from Audrey Sayoc and Kirkman to give the Cougars a 13-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
Molly Whitmore got the first points of the second quarter with a jump shot and a free throw to extend the Cougars lead to 24-9. Following a jumper from Domincan's Jenna Duley, Kirkman answered with one of her own that kicked off a domino effect. Her initial two points turned into a 13-point run for the Cougars as they extended their lead to 27 with 2:38 left in the half.
Down 12-38, Dominican knocked down two free throws but Kirkman countered with two of her own from the line. To end the half, Elyse Mitchell made a layup off her own rebound and Paige Uyehara knocked down a clean jumper in the paint before getting a defensive rebound that led to a three-pointer from Kelly Heimburger sending the Cougars to the locker room up 47-16.
To start the second half, the Penguins broke into a short-lived 9-2 point run to make the score 49-25. The game went back and forth for the rest of the period as each team capitalized on one another's turnovers. Although the Penguins outscored the Cougars 21-15 in the third quarter, Azusa Pacific still hung on to its 25-point lead.
In the final quarter of the game, the Penguins continued to chip away at their deficit scoring back-to-back shots within a minute to make the score 41-62. However, the Cougars responded in their usual fashion scoring eight points in a row to bring their lead back to 29.
After a jumper from Dominican's Olga Faasolo, Kirkman and Heimburger strung together another seven-point run to make the score 77-43 halfway through the fourth quarter. By the time Dominican responded piecing together ten more points to end the half, the Cougars were already too far gone.
By the Numbers: The Cougars dominated on offense shooting a season-best 52.2% (33-for-62) from the field goal range while holding the Penguins to 30% (20-66) from the field. As a team, the Cougars pieced together 12 total blocks on defense, tying their season-best, and had 45 rebounds compared to the Penguins' 32. While both teams had 15 turnovers across the game, the Cougars were able to capitalize on the Penguins' mishaps scoring 15 points to Domincan's 12 points off turnovers.
Up Next: The Cougars will get a whole week to rest before heading south to San Diego to face Point Loma on February 10th. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
