COLUMBUS, Ohio -- For the second time in three years, Azusa Pacific earned a trip to the Elite Eight, but the Cougars ran into No. 2 Lander, who won 88-76 on Tuesday at the Greater Columbus Convention Center to earn a spot in the national semifinals behind a 38-point performance by Zamiya Passmore.

Azusa Pacific finishes the season with a 12-5 record as the PacWest SoCal Pod and NCAA Division II West Regional champions. The Cougars were dominant at the start of each half, but foul trouble throughout the game prevented the Cougars from building on either lead.

The Cougars made four 3-pointers including two by Laura Pranger to build an 18-10 lead in the opening minutes of the game. However, the Lander defense settled the Cougars down and held them without any points for a stretch that lasted nearly seven minutes near the end of the second quarter to build a 36-27 lead.

Lander led in rebounding 34-14 to make up for a poor field-goal percentage against Azusa Pacific's tough zone defense. However, when the Cougars started to limit Lander's second-chance opportunities, they went on a 13-2 run to retake the lead with Kelly Heimdinger and Kayla Shaw leading the offense during the run.

Lander kept the Cougars in foul trouble and got repeated trips to the foul line by constantly attacking the paint and getting the call. The Bearcats attempted 41 free throws in the game compared to just nine for Azusa Pacific and every player in the Cougars' rotation had at least three fouls, limiting their minutes on the court as the team got whistled for a total of 26 fouls.

In the fourth quarter, Lander finally began to make some field goals and put 29 points on the board in the quarter. The Bearcats expanded the lead to double digits for the first time with just a minute left.

The Bearcats relied on just three players to do almost all of the scoring. Along with Passmore's 38 points, Makaila Cange scored 26 points and Amiaya Melvins added 14 points. The other two starters for Lander combined for the other 10 points, which all came late in the second half.

Azusa Pacific was led by Kayla Shaw with 19 points, making five shots from beyond the arc. Alex Lowden, who was the only other player whose minutes were not affected by foul trouble had team-highs of nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals. Pranger finished with 16 points, four assists, three blocks and three rebounds.