RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Last time Azusa Pacific came to the Van Dyne Gym, it came down to one point. While No. 10-ranked California Baptist University still got the win, it didn't let it come down to the wire, grabbing an 81-71 victory over its rival.
 
The Lancers improve to 9-2, 2-0 in the PacWest with their sixth-straight win. The Cougars drop to 3-6, 1-1 in conference.

"APU's record may not be as good as it would like, but that doesn't really matter when you're playing in a rivalry game like this that means so much," said Coach Jarrod Olson. "This is a pretty good win against a good team. I feel like we were just treating it like a regular game, though."
 
Cassidy Mihalko led five scorers in double figures with 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Erin Asher followed with 13 (3-for-6), while Kamille Diaz chipped in 12 and Lexy Ram finished with 11 points. Courtney Nelson rounded out the quintet with 10 points.
 
It was pretty evenly matched as both teams shot 28-of-65 from the floor, with both making eight three-pointers. The difference came at the charity stripe where CBU took care of 17 of 20 free throws.
 
Neither team could put a big run together until there was just over three and a half minutes left in the first. Up 14-12, CBU scored eight consecutive points to take its first double-digit lead of the night. Erin Asher got the run going with two free throws before baskets from Diaz, Asher and Olivia Weber put the Lancers up 22-12.
 
APU got some stops and finished the first quarter with back-to-back three-pointers to pull within four, 22-18. 
 
The Cougars carried that momentum into the second and walked into halftime with a 44-40 lead.

"It was an exciting game, it was loud and there was a good energy in the building – we were making shots, they were making shots and it was kind of fun," said Olson. "At halftime, I think we had to decide if we wanted to have a fun night, a fun game or if we wanted to actually work at it and try to win the game. in the third quarter, we came out stronger defensively and moved the ball really well. I imagine we had a lot more assists in that quarter than any other, we were just finding shooters and it was a much cleaner half."
 
Mihalko got a tough shot off to open third to put CBU off on an 11-2 run to take back the lead, 55-42. The Cougars fought back, but an 8-0 run put the Lancers back over the edge of a double-digit lead, 64-53, in the third.

"The third quarter was clearly our best quarter, we were working a little harder defensively," said Olson. "It sounds basic and simple, but I think we got a little carried away in the first two quarters."
 

"At halftime, Coach told us we needed to step up on defense if we were going to win this game," added Diaz. "We came out and got stop after stop, ran and we scored."

Heading down the stretch with a 73-62 lead, Diaz gave the Lancers some extra breathing room by knocking down a deep three.
 
Despite trying to foul to get the ball back, APU would only pull within eight, before Asher knocked down two free throws to seal the 81-71 victory.

"Any time you beat APU it's a big win," said Olson.

"It's always going to be a good game when we play APU, whether it's here or there. Us seniors haven't beaten APU at APU, so I think that would be a bigger accomplishment."

The Lancers will have to wait until Jan. 12 to get their crack at the Cougars in Azusa, but continue conference action next week and host Dixie State on Thursday at 5:00 p.m.

"We have a lot of new people on this team, it took some time to show them how we do things at CBU," said Diaz. "Now, it's semi clicking, I think we still have some things to do, but it's only December. We have been playing really well together as a team."