Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The Western Washington women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season falling to Azusa Pacific 70-63 Friday evening in the second game of the West Region Crossover Classic at Whatcom Pavilion.

WWU falls to 2-1 on the season, while Azusa Pacific events its season mark at 2-2. APU, who hosted the NCAA Division II West Regional last year, has won three consecutive games vs. the Vikings.

Senior guard Taylor Peacocke (Kenmore, WA/Inglemoor) led the Vikings with 21 points on 6-for-14 shooting from the field. Senior forward Kiana Gandy (Des Moines, WA/Mount Rainier) added 20 points on 8-for-17 from the field.

The Vikings shot just 35.7% from the field (20-for-56), well under its season mark of 43.8% entering the game.

Azusa Pacific junior forward Gabrielle Kaiser led all player with 24 points (11-for-16 shooting) and had 9 rebounds. Junior guard Abigail Goodsell contributed 13 points and had 7 assists.

The Vikings held an 18-16 lead after the first quarter and stretched the lead to 20-16 early in the second quarter. Western then went over five minutes without a field goal with APU going on a 9-1 run to take a 25-21 lead. The Cougars took a 29-28 lead into halftime, with Peacocke and Kaiser each scoring 12 points.

APU out-scored WWU 19-15 in the third quarter to take a 5-point 48-43 lead into the final quarter of play.

After the Cougars hit a quick three-pointer to extend the lead to 8 points at 51-43, the Vikings went on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 51-51. All 8 points during the run came at the free throw line as the Cougars committed 5 fouls during the span. WWU grabbed its first lead since early in the 2nd quarter at 55-53 with 6:01 remaining when Peacocke converted a driving layup. Azusa went back up by 5 points at 60-55 with 4:21 remaining, but WWU wouldn't go away knotting the game at 62-62 with 2:28 remaining.

The shift in momentum changed when 6-1 center Casey Wortley hit a three-pointer with 2:02 remaining that gave the Cougars a 65-62 advantage, and a lead they would not relinquish. APU ended the game on a 8-1 run to pick up the 70-63 victory. The Vikings were held without a field goal over the final 3:08 of the game.

In the opening game of the tournament Seattle Pacific (3-0) beat nationally-ranked UC San Diego 62-45.

The second day of the West Region Crossover Classic concludes tomorrow with WWU facing UCSD (2-1) at 7:30 pm, while Azusa Pacific and Seattle Pacific match up at 5 pm at Whatcom Pavilion. The WWU men will host Holy Names in a non-conference game at 2 pm at Whatcom Pavilion.

Game Notes: Taylor Peacocke now has 1,266 career points (11th in school history) and is closing in on 10th place (Cincy Pancerzewski, 1,298 points)...the game featured 6 lead changes and 7 tie scores (4 in the 4th quarter)...Kiana Gandy has scored 20+ points in two of her three games this season (19.0 points/game).