Missouri Valley 51
AZUSA, Calif.-- The gusty Santa Ana winds reared their ugly head in Southern California Thursday, and somebody must have left all the doors and windows open in the Felix Event Center.
The NAIA’s No. 18-ranked Azusa Pacific and Missouri Valley combined to miss 81 shots shooting just 37% from the floor, but the Cougars were able to rely on their stifling defense and a hot second half from Kelsey Hudson to get an 89-51 non-conference win over the visiting Vikings Thursday evening in Azusa.
The win is the Cougars’ fifth in a row and moves them to 8-2 overall. Missouri Valley drops to 4-6.
The Cougars, who led wire-to-wire, forced 32 turnovers and held the Vikings to just 33.3% (18-for-54) from the floor. Hudson finished with a game-high 21 points, 16 in the second half, and 10 rebounds.
Sarah Leathers and Alyssa Ferdaszewski each finished with 16.
Leathers had 13 in the first half. She started the game with a trey and then hit back-to-back bombs in a 15-5 Cougar spurt that turned an 11-7 lead into a 26-12 lead with 8:01 to play. The Vikings scored 5 straight to get within 9 (26-17), but the Cougars responded with a 10-1 run to take a 36-18 lead with 3:39 to play.
The rest was left up to the Cougar defense and Hudson, who scored the Cougars’ first 14 points of the second half, keyed by back-to-back treys. The Vikings cut the deficit down to 12 (50-38) with 11:47 to play, but the Cougars outscored the Vikings, 39-13, to close the game.
The Cougars out-rebounded the Vikings, 50-37, and they scored 37 points off the Viking turnovers.
Lindsay Rice added 10 points and 7 rebounds for the Cougars. Tiffany Schreiber led Missouri Valley with 18 points.
