(Azusa) – As the regular season came to a close, the Azusa Pacific women’s basketball team solidified its fourth-place spot in the PacWest Conference with a 67-49 victory over Fresno Pacific.
The win is the Cougars ninth in its last-twelve games.
Kelly Hardeman continued her solid play for APU as she finished with a team-high 14th double-double of the season. She finished the game with 14 points and 17 rebounds.
It was a breakout game for Lauren Glister who finished the night with 13 points.
“I had it in mind that it might be a messing game,” said Cougars head coach T.J. Hardeman after both teams combined for 34 turnovers. “We stressed defensively not to give up easy shots. Stopping Jenay Herring was key.”
Azusa Pacific showed why they are the second best defensive team in the PacWest as they limited the Sunbirds to 25% from the field. They also managed to quiet senior Jenay Herring who came into the game as the leading scorer for Fresno Pacific.
The Cougars scored early in the first half and never relinquished its lead throughout the game as they managed to go on a 15-4 run in the first half to take a 13-point lead midway through the half.
As APU celebrated the accomplishments of seniors Katie Powell and Lisha Elsenbach (Burroughs).
“Katie is incredible,” Hardeman saying about Powell. “She is 100% the girl you want representing APU basketball. She has been here for four years. Has always done everything that you ask her to do.”
It was the future of the Cougars in Hardeman (junior), Glister (junior), Maggie Dumphy (sophomore) and Cydnie Jones (junior) that allowed the team to pull away in the second half. Dumphy scored 10-points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Jones finished with 10-points and eight rebounds.
“Lauren played great,” said Hardeman. “She does that everyday at practice. It is nice to see her translate it to the game.”
Azusa Pacific will most likely face Academy of Art on Thursday afternoon at Concordia University in the opening round of the PacWest Tournament.
“We need to win,” said Hardeman about next weeks game. “Our team has improved so much from the last time. As a team we are going to our strengths and focusing on improving on our weaknesses.”
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