ST. GEORGE, Utah - Dixie State battled back several times but the women's basketball team came up short in a 73-61 loss to Azusa Pacific on Saturday.
Dixie State (5-10, 4-5) went cold in the second half but stayed within three points inside the final minutes.
Kaylah Miller (San Diego, CA/La Jolla Country Day) registered 22 points to lead all scorers but a balanced attack from Azusa Pacific (10-6, 6-3) with all five starters in double-figures helped the Cougars calm the Red Storm.
Taylor Maynes (Salome, AZ/Salome) posted 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and one steal. DSU shot 33.9 percent for the game to APU's 40.8 clip. The Cougars outrebounded Dixie State 50-38, including 21-13 on the offensive glass resulting in 20 second-chance points to do the Storm in.
"We've got to a better job controlling the boards," head coach
Jenny Thigpin said. "We gave up way too many second-chance looks and we've got to get better on the rebounds."
Azusa Pacific raced out to a quick lead to start the game but the Red Storm stayed in the hunt after Maynes drilled a triple from the corner to cut the lead to 19-14. The run continued and Miller drained another to tie up the score at 19-19 with 10:06 to go in the first half.
Dixie State stayed hot and took the lead on a Maynes and-one play on the next possession.
The teams battled to the half and Azusa snuck in to locker room with a 36-33 lead. Maynes had 10 points, four assists and three rebounds at halftime.
DSU started out slow in the second half. The Red Storm made just 2 of 14 shots until with 10 minutes left in the game, trailing 53-43.
Back-to-back buckets, including a trey from Miller made it 57-48 as Dixie State trimmed the lead to single digits again.
Inside of four minutes, the Red Storm stayed within striking distance and Miller drained two free throws to make it 61-58.
Azusa Pacific answered the run though with six straight and Dixie State wasn't able to close the gap, eventually falling 73-61.
Dixie State hosts Cal Baptist on Monday, Jan. 19 at 5 p.m. in the Burns Arena.
