APU’s Miriam Zabinsky had a tough task defending Jasmin Guinn.
by Andy Villanueva
(IRVINE) – Leave it to senior leadership to lead Azusa Pacific into the semi-finals of the PacWest tournament. Senior Katie Powell fired two-three pointers within a minute with 3:41 remaining to help lead the Cougars to a 69-59 win over Academy of the Arts.
“I think when we start scoring as a team the energy pumps up a level,” said Powell of her performance. “I can’t take all the credit for the win. It is a team effort.”
Kelly Hardeman continued her MVP play by scoring her 15th double-double of the season with 19 points and 17 rebounds. Hardeman was instrumental inside the final five minutes teaming up with Powell (12 points) for a 10-3 run to turn a 51-51 tie into a 61-54 lead they would never relinquish.
With 10:30 remaining it appeared that the Urban Knigts were going to steal the game quite literally away from APU as Regina Camera stole an errant pass and went the distance for a layup. Seconds later Guinn stole hit a jumper to give Academy of Arts their largest lead of the game at three.
“The game was so see-sawy,” Cougars coach T.J. Hardeman when falling behind. “Lets just focus on each possession. We know offensively we would get some shots. We felt we could get the ball inside and don’t believe anyone was tight when getting down.”
It would be the only time they would lead during the game as sophomore Maggie Dumphy squared the game at 51 with two clutch free throws after the APU struggled for the better part of 30 minutes from the charity stripe.
Defensively, the Cougars can be proud of limiting the Urban Knights to just 29.8% from the field in their win as they avenged two earlier 74-70 losses during the regular season.
Playing without leading scorer Krystal Forthan, Academy of Art leaned highly on Jasmin Guinn to keep them in the game with a game-high 31-points.
Azusa Pacific looked to be in control midway through the first half as they jumped out to a 23-14. That is when the Urban Knights fought back leveling the game with 10 seconds to go in the first half when Guinn hit a three-pointer. APU’s Elana Ala ended the choppy first half with coast-to-coast layup.
Cydnie Jones continued her strong play down the stretch of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
The mission is simple for the Cougars, win the PacWest Tournament and there will be no doubt if they belong in the NCAA Division II tournament field. A loss and APU would leave it in the hands of the committee. Their next step is tomorrow afternoon when they face top-seeded Hawaii Pacific at 1:45pm.
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