Women's Basketball

Azusa Pacific Makes Its Return To PacWest Championship Game

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Making its fifth appearance in the PacWest Championships, Azusa Pacific clinched its return to the championship game for the first time since winning the tournament in 2016 with a 64-55 victory against Point Loma on Friday night in the Conlan Center.

BOX SCORE | AZUSA PACIFIC INTERVIEW | POINT LOMA INTERVIEW
 
With the win, No. 1 seed Azusa Pacific improves to 25-4 on the season and will play against No. 3 seed Hawai`i Pacific on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The Cougars improved to 5-3 in program history in the PacWest Championships. Point Loma finished the season by winning 13 of its final 14 games for an overall record of 19-11 to conclude the 2018-19 season.
 
Azusa Pacific never trailed en route to its third victory this season against the Sea Lions. Cierra Roufosse, Savanna Hanson and Laura Pranger each led the Cougars in scoring with 15 points in the victory. Roufosse made a jumper midway through the fourth quarter that gave Azusa Pacific its largest lead of the day, 57-40.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Cougars pounded the ball inside and only took one 3-pointer in the period. Savanna Hanson scored eight points in the final quarter and Pranger added six points to help the Cougars seal the victory.
 
Point Loma shot the ball well from around the arc making 7 of 13 three-point attempts. However, the Sea Lions only made 9 of 46 two-point field goals in the game. Pranger recorded six blocks for the Cougars and Roufosse added two more blocks for the Cougars’ defense.
 
Sydney Peterson led the Sea Lions’ success from the perimeter, making 3 of 4 attempts from 3-point territory as she finished with 11 points. Cara Liggins recorded a team-high 12 points and 10 rebounds. In her final collegiate basketball game, Yuendie Guridi led the team with four assists.
 
Hawai`i Pacific is the only PacWest team that has defeated Azusa Pacific this season. The Cougars split the season series with a home win over the Sharks in a nationally-televised game on ESPN3. The two teams also split last year in the regular season and shared the conference title.