Christian Heritage 68
EL CAJON, Calif. -- On a night when 4 of the GSAC’s top 5 teams had it easy, Azusa Pacific got more than it bargained for.
After squandering an 11-point first half lead, the NAIA’s No. 14-ranked Cougars had to come-from-behind and erase a 7-point second half deficit with a 23-8 run in the final 11 minutes to escape with a 76-68 road win at Christian Heritage.
Meanwhile, No. 4 The Master’s cruised to a 21-point win at Fresno Pacific, No. 7 Point Loma got a 45-point win at Hope International, and Westmont picked up a 20-point win at Biola. No. 2 Vanguard had the easiest night of all as the Lions were idle.
It was a much-needed "break" as each of the GSAC's top 5 teams have turn right around and play again Thursday.
Monica Somers and Kelsey Hudson combined for 47 of the Cougars 76 points, including all of the Cougars’ points during what turned out to be a 9-1 game-clinching run in the final 2:38.
With the win, the Cougars improve to 14-5 overall, 6-2 GSAC. Christian Heritage falls to 9-9, 2-6.
Hudson finished with game-highs of 26 points and 12 rebounds. Somers added 21 points in 26 minutes off the bench. The Cougars played without the services of leading scorer and All-American Lindsey West.
With the game tied for the 13th time at 67-67, Hudson sank a pair of free throws with 2:38 to play to break it for the final time and start the game-ending spurt where Somers and Hudson scored 9 of the game’s final 10 points. After a pair of Hawk turnovers, Hudson and Somers hit back-to-back jumpers to push the lead back up to 6 (73-67) with 1:02 to play, and for all intents and purposes, seal the game.
The Hawks got within 6 with 23 seconds to play, but Hudson sank another pair with 18 seconds left for the final margin.
“I don’t really know what to say,” said Azusa Pacific head coach Danelle Liles. “We just didn’t play very well. We haven’t been clicking lately, so we’re going to have to go back and figure out what’s going on.”
Elisabeth Reynolds buried a jumper to complete a 23-10 Christian Heritage run in the first 11:41 of the first half that turned a 6-point halftime deficit into a 60-53 lead.
From there, though, the Cougars outscored the Hawks 23-8 in the final 11 minutes. Jamie Geagel buried a trey with 5:19 to play that gave the Hawks a 65-62 lead, but that trey gave the Hawks’ their last lead and turned out to be the Hawks’ only field goal in the final 11 minutes of the contest.
Ashley Oakes, making her first career start, answered Geagel’s trey with a bomb of her own to tie the game with 3:58 to play. Somers hit 2 free throws to give the Cougars the lead again, but Reynolds hit a pair with 2:56 to play to tie the game for the last time before Hudson and Somers went to work.
“Kelsey and Monica both played great,” said Liles. “They were strong all night and together, they pushed us to this win.”
The Cougars seemed headed for an easy road win when they used a 12-1 run, keyed by 7 points from Hudson, over a 2:19 span late in the first half that opened up a 39-28 lead with 3:09 to play. But the Hawks responded with a 9-4 spurt to get within 6 (43-37) at half.
Corrie Wall led Christian Heritage with 12 points. Reynolds finished with 10 points and 5 rebounds.
Oakes finished with a solid effort—9 points, 5 assists, 4 steals and most importantly no turnovers in 19 minutes of action. Lindsay Rice chipped in with 11 points.
