AZUSA, Calif. – A Cornerstone Cup thriller at the Felix Event Center left the Eagles in disbelief as Sydney Hani hit a layup off a missed jumper to beat the buzzer and secure a 62-61 win over Biola, moving APU to 11-2 at home this season.
 
Amayah Kirkman led the Cougars in scoring, shooting 5-for-8 from beyond the arc, racking up 15 points in the process. Kelly Heimburger also joined her teammate in double figures, scoring 12 points. Kirkman also made her presence known across the box score, leading APU in assists (4), rebounds (9), and steals (3).
 
The Cougars opened the 89th all-time meeting against their PacWest foe with a jumper from Heimburger before both squads exchanged three pointers. They quickly built an early lead, going on a 9-0 run to put Biola in a nine-point hole (14-5). It shot an elite 6-for-9 (66.6%) from three point range, but Biola's sharpshooting held its own to keep the deficit at five points heading into the second.

After a small 8-3 run by the Eagles, five-straight points for Rachel Roderick late into the second quarter, gave the Cougars a 30-25 lead. After another Biola three, Kirkman offered her  rebuttal with 1:34 left in the first half, making a tough step-back three pointer to maintain APU's lead heading into halftime.
 
Coming out of the break, the Eagles closed and then took the lead with a 16-7 run to go up four but timely baskets by Lauren Jones and Elyse Mitchell kept Biola within reach. Biola held APU to just 38.5% shooting from the field in the third quarter, regaining the lead (47-45) off another huge three with ten minutes to play.
 
A gritty fourth quarter had both Azusa Pacific and Biola knocking down tough shots, as the Cougars and Eagles both shot well 50% from the field. Despite shooting 5=for-15 (33.3%) in the quarter, a 7-7 stat line from the charity stripe proved to be the difference as they knocked down some clutch free throws down the stretch. With under two minutes left in the back-and-forth affair, Audrey Sayoc rolled left to regain the lead but Biola worked the clock then managed to connect on a pull-up jumper with under 10 seconds left. 

 A timeout from Head Coach T.J. Hardeman with 6.1 seconds left on the clock led to an eruption in the Felix Event Center as Hani scooped a missed APU jumper and tipped it back in as time expired to claim APU's 21st win of the season.

The Leaders
Azusa Pacific: Amayah Kirkman led APU in scoring, shooting 5-14 from the field while racking up a game-high 15 points.
 
Biola: Sydney Moran recorded 12 points and three rebounds, all while going 4-for-7 from three point range.
 
Inside the Box Score

• APU moved to 11-2 at home with this win.
• Elyse Mitchell and Rachel Roderick scored all 13 of APU's bench points.
• Sydney Hani's buzzer-beater was her first made field goal in 9:27 of play.
• Kelly Heimburger finishes her career with 191 career points against Biola.
• The Cougars out-blocked Biola 2-1.
• Azusa Pacific secured the victory, shooting just 21-for-58 (36.2%) from the field compared to Biola's 44.6%.
• There were 10 lead changes in the matchup.
• APU now leads the all-time series against Biola 60-29.
• The Cougars have secured the #2 seed for the PacWest Tournament.