AZUSA, Calif. – Matched up with its second-highest ranked opponent to date in No. 3 Azusa Pacific, Academy of Art women's basketball hung tough early on, but did not have an answer for the Cougars' hot shooting down the stretch toward a 106-65 final inside Felix Event Center on Saturday.

Living up to the hype immediately, the Cougars knocked down three 3-pointers as they started the game with a 13-4 run. ART U soon countered with a triple from redshirt freshman guard Kaila Murrell and a layup by freshman guard Brooke Rodgers. Six unanswered points from APU thereafter pushed the margin to double digits then a three-point play by Rodgers in the final seconds cut the deficit to 29-19 while giving her nine points.

After 8-0 push to start the second quarter helped APU establish a 37-19 advantage  to start before junior guard Lauryn Manns stopped the shift with a jumper. Murrell later had a truly impressive stretch where she hit a jumper, blocked the next Azusa Pacific shot attempt, and scored again all with one minute of play, but a 6-1 end to the half had the Cougars in front 46-27 at the intermission.

The first four points of the second half were had by APU and the margin would drop below 20 just twice thereafter. Consecutive jumpers by Manns and freshman guard Milan Tuttle got it to 55-36 midway through then Rodgers scored again two minutes later, but three more 3-pointers in the last four minutes ended the quarter with the home team on top 76-49.

Tuttle scored six points in the fourth, two in the first minute, yet Azusa Pacific continued to knock down shots from everywhere, connecting at over 62 percent from the floor midway through before finishing at 60 percent exactly. As the final buzzer sounded, it was a 106-65 win for the Cougars.

Just Academy of Art's second loss in 2022, the result puts ART U at 10-7 overall and 7-3 in conference play. Rodgers finished with a career-high 18 points (two better than her previous best) along with three blocks to tie her highest total of the season. An incredible 12 offensive rebounds made up freshman forward Alisha Wilson's 17 total boards which combined with her 13 points for her eighth double-double this season. Tuttle added a season-high 13 points with three steals while Murrell contributed nine points plus three thefts.

Winners of 12 straight, Azusa Pacific rises to 15-1 overall and 11-0 against PacWest opponents. Along with her four blocks and four steals, Paige Uyehara's 23 points led five Cougars scoring in double figures while Laura Pranger added 13 points, nine blocks, six rebounds, and six assists.

ART U will be back in the Bay Area for its next contest, a rematch with Holy Names that the Knights will host on Feb. 1 at 5 p.m.