AZUSA, Calif. – The third contest this season between Azusa Pacific and Fresno Pacific lived up to the expectations after two grueling battles during the regular season. The No. 2 seeded Cougars won the rubber match, 68-57, ending the game on a 17-2 run to advance in the PacWest Championships on Friday at the Felix Event Center.
 
The No. 6 seeded Sunbirds (17-13) provided the first upset of the tournament by taking out Concordia, but that run came to an end as No. 2 seed Azusa Pacific (25-4) got its seventh win in a row to reach the final of the PacWest Championships for the second year in a row.
 
Azusa Pacific led by as much as 10 points in the third quarter behind strong defense that recorded 10 blocks and nine steals in the game. Laura Pranger led the defensive effort with seven blocks and one steal, while Alex Lowden had one block and three steals.
 
The Sunbirds chipped away at that lead throughout at the third quarter, starting with a pair of triples by Sara Lundqvist. Then her fellow freshman out of Lund, Sweden, Felicia Dourva made a lay-up to cut the deficit to just one point going into the fourth quarter.
 
The Cougars’ defense slowed down Fresno Pacific in the fourth quarter, holding the Sunbirds to just seven points with no field goals allowed in the final seven minutes. Daylee Hanson single-handedly went on a 7-1 run that was capped off by a 3-pointer assisted by Zoe March for a 62-56 lead.
 
Pranger added two more blocks in the final five minutes of the game, pushing her season total to 118, which is now third most in conference history and only six shy of the single-season record. The Cougars defense sealed the victory as they held FPU to their fifth lowest scoring total of the season.
 
Azusa Pacific will go on to face the winner of No. 1 Hawai`i Pacific and No. 5 Biola. The Cougars swept the season series against Biola, while HPU won both games against Azusa Pacific.
 
Daylee Hanson led all scorers with 23 points along with eight rebounds, three steals and three assists. Pranger added 12 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks, while Rachel Bozlee tallied 10 points. Fresno Pacific was led offensively by Lundqvist with 18 points off the bench, making 6 of 7 shots from 3-point territory. Cassie Pisik added 14 points and 12 rebounds in the final game of her collegiate career, graduating with her name at the top of the Fresno Pacific record book in several categories.