GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -- For the second-consecutive time in the last two NCAA Division II West Regionals, the Azusa Pacific Cougars have come home with the championship. The Cougars, who held on for dear life in the last few seconds, defeated Westminster, 53-48, and are headed to the Elite Eight in Columbus, Ohio, March 23-26.
“They all did just everything they could to win,” said head coach T.J. Hardeman, who is in his 14th year. “It’s neat to have a goal and say this is what we want and to work for it. This year I told the girls don’t worry about things being fair and be flexible, and so they did that all year and it paid off for them.”
After Azusa Pacific (12-4) held a comfortable 16-point lead midway through the third quarter, Westminster (13-6) began a wild 21-6 run into the final quarter and trailed by just three points, 47-44, with five minutes left.
“We ran out of gas, but all year we’ve been a comeback team and they don’t get flustered,” said Hardeman, who led the Cougars to the NAIA title in 2011.
Actually, the Cougars never trailed in the fourth quarter, but treated the situation like they had most of the season. Senior guard Kayla Shaw (10 points), who was named the Tournament MVP and was the PacWest Newcomer of the Year, scored on a layup and sophomore guard Paige Uyehara (15 points) connected with a 3-pointer and the Cougars held a seven-point, 51-44, lead with 2:36 left.
“I would definitely say that we were mentally tough and were able to push through and pull it off,” said Uyehara, who was named to the All-Tournament team.
Shaw and senior forward Laura Pranger (10 points), who both actually only played together prior to the playoffs due to injuries, led the charge for the Cougars.
“It was definitely a great experience to play with Kayla,” said Pranger, who was on the 2018-19 that reached the Elite Eight. “It’s so exciting, especially knowing what it’s like and we can spread the knowledge to the younger girls on the team.”
The Cougars set for the first half right from the tipoff with junior guard Alex Lowden (9 points) scoring a 3-pointer just 22 seconds into the game.
“We really wanted to come out strong in the beginning, rather than having to battle in the end,” said junior guard Alex Lowden, who was named the PacWest Defensive Player of the Year.
Shaw gave the Cougars a 7-4 lead with a short jumper midway through the quarter and Uyehara connected with two late long-range baskets, followed by a short jump shot for the 17-9, first-quarter lead. Shaw continued her hot hand to start off the second quarter with two 3-pointers in the first minute and a half, as the Cougars stretched the lead to 25-9.
Midway through the quarter Pranger and freshman forward Kelly Heimburger scored back-to-back baskets to keep the Cougars at a comfortable lead, 29-14. Westminster stayed even with the Cougars the rest of the way in the half, as Azusa Pacific led, 36-21 at the break.
Uyehara led the Cougars with 10 points at the half, followed by Shaw and Pranger with eight each. Mariah Martin led the Griffins with nine at the half and 14 in the game.