AZUSA, Calif. – Once the Seattle Pacific Falcons turned up the intensity, they started piling up the points.
 
Before they did however, 12th-ranked Azusa Pacific piled up a few more.
 
Olivia Mayer recorded her second straight double-double, this one with 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Grace Leasure popped for a career-high 12 points off the bench, but homestanding APU tore off an 18-0 third-quarter run, and that ultimately was enough to secure a 69-57 victory on the first night of the Cougar Shootout women's basketball tournament in the Felix Event Center.
 
Lolo Weatherspoon chipped in 11 points and a career-high five assists for the Falcons (1-2), and Schuyler Berry added 10 points.
 
Down 28-15 late in the first half, SPU closed within eight points by the break at 30-22. Then when Mayer converted an Azusa turnover into a lay-in at the outset of the third quarter, the difference was suddenly down to just six at 30-24.
 
But the Cougars (4-1) then buried seven shots in a row – four of them from downtown – and the Falcons missed seven in a row during the next 3 ½ minutes as the margin ballooned to 48-24. A pair of Weatherspoon free throws finally got Seattle Pacific back on the board with 4:41 left in the quarter, a dry spell of nearly five minutes.
 
Azusa Pacific answered with a traditional three-point play for what became a 25-point lead, its largest of the night, at 51-26.
 
 

"Azusa is a good team. They run a lot of different defensive packages, and the thing that happens with those defenses they throw at you is it makes you kind of timid, makes you second-guess," head coach Mike Simonson said. "I think that played into our passivity, some of the defenses they were throwing out there.
 
"However, once we stopped being concerned about their defense and started being more concerned about our aggressive nature, we really started scoring the ball well and playing good defense," he added.

That's when the Falcons started climbing back in, beginning with a Leasure trey from the left of the lane that banked in to make it 51-29. By the end of the third, it was down to 13 at 54-41, as they finished the quarter on a 17-6 scoring run.
 
"We've been through two exhibitions and three real games, and it feels like it takes a moment in the game when we finally turn on the switch," Simonson said. "It just hasn't come from the start yet, and it needs to, and it needs to change really quick. When we do play hard and fight, we're pretty good – we're tough defensively, we can score, and play together."
 
 

SPU kept coming, finally getting within single digits at 56-48 on a foul line jumper by Mayer with 6:29 still to play. Molly Whitmore's lay-in restored a 10-point lead for the Cougars at 58-48. Mayer banged down a 3-pointer off an assist from Hailey Marlow, then assisted on a Berry lay-in, and the Falcons were within five at 58-53 at the 4:21 mark, capping a remarkable 29-10 run.
 
That, however, was as close as they came. After a pair of Leasure free throws with 1:01 to go made it 63-57, the Cougars kept SPU scoreless the rest of the way and went 6 of 8 at the line down the stretch to put it away.
 
"I'm extremely proud of the group that was out there," Simonson said. "They went out and played tough, hard-nosed defense, got good shots, and were aggressive. It was just like our mindset changed."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
 

-- On the way to her 12 points on Friday, Grace Leasure hit 4 of 7 from the field, including 2 of 4 from behind the 3-point arc. "She had a couple of good drives, hit a couple 3s, and one of them was a bank (shot). She was a good spark," coach Mike Simonson said.
-- Lolo Weatherspoon also hit 4 of 7 from the floor on the way to her 10 points. Her five assists was one more than her previous career high of four. "Lolo had a great game, started sharing the ball and getting on the floor for loose balls. There was a spark in her tonight that I want to see turn into a fire" Simonson said.
--The Falcons shot 33.3 percent for the game (19 of 57). They had a bit more success from 3-point range than they did last weekend, draining 5 of 19 (26.3 percent). SPU hit just 2 of 33 (6.1 percent) in last week's first two games.
-- Led by Olivia Mayer's 12, Seattle Pacific had a 37-33 edge on the boards.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons conclude the tournament on Saturday against No. 22 Cal State San Marcos. Tip-off is at 4:00 p.m. San Marcos handed Western Washington its first loss of the season on Friday, 73-68.


NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Cougar Shootout
Friday, Nov. 17, 2023
Felix Event Center / Azusa, Calif.
 
(No. 12) Azusa Pacific 69, Seattle Pacific 57
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (1-2)
Weatherspoon 4-7 3-3 11, Marlow 1-7 0-2 2, Beirne 1-4 0-0 3, Mayer 5-17 2-2 13, Berry 3-8 4-4 10, Ohta 1-1 3-4 6, Bishop 0-1 0-0 0, Kearns 0-3 0-0 0, Carlisle 0-2 0-0 0, Leasure 4-7 2-3 12. Totals 19-57 14-16 57.
 
AZUSA PACIFIC (4-1)
Kirkman 5-12 0-0 13, Uyehara 5-12 2-2 14, Manuel 2-6 2-2 6, Whitmore 6-6 4-5 16, Heimburger 6-10 2-2 16, Sayoc 0-3 1-2 1, Hani 1-2 1-2 3, Pierce 0-0 0-0 0, Belquist 0-2 0-0 0, Kelly 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-55 12-15 69.
 
Seattle Pacific     10           12           19           16           -- 57
Azusa Pacific      15           15           24           15           -- 69
 
3-point goals – SPU 5-19 (Weatherspoon 0-1, Marlow 0-2, Beirne 1-2, Mayer 1-6, Ohta 1-1, Kearns 0-2, Carlisle 0-1, Leasure 2-4), APU 7-23 (Kirkman 3-8, Uyehara 2-5, Heimburger 2-5, Sayoc 0-2, Belquist 0-2, Jones 0-1). Fouled out – None. Rebounds – SPU 37 (Mayer 12), APU 33 (Whitmore 8). Assists – SPU 12 (Weatherspoon 5), APU 17 (Uyehara 5). Turnovers – SPU 20 (11 points), APU 19 (27 points). Total fouls – SPU 18, APU 16. Technical fouls – None. Attendance – NA.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 1-2.  Azusa Pacific 3-1.
 
Next game
Seattle Pacific vs. Cal State San Marcos
Saturday, 4:00 p.m.
Felix Event Center / Azusa, Calif.