The Eagles entered play this week 17-10, and 12-6 in the conference, needing only one win to set their best conference mark since joining GSAC in 1994. Biola also came into Saturday night’s packed homecoming matchup versus Cal Baptist ranked No. 21 in the new NAIA polls.
The Eagles came out quick, taking a 24-22 lead with 8:55 to play in the first half, and it was never close again. Over the next 21 minutes, the Eagles would go on a 41-10 run to take a commanding 63-34 lead, and with the help of five Eagles scoring in double-digits, Biola cruised to a 82-60 victory.
Junior forward Jessilyn Conicelli led Biola with 18 points and 14 rebounds along with six assists. Senior guard Chelsea De Luca added 16 points, junior center Christina Barclay had 12 to go with six rebounds, junior forward Jennifer French had 11 and sophomore guard Charrise Reece had 10. Biola’s bench was again strong, outscoring CBU’s 27-5 including an 18-0 mark at halftime. At halftime, the Eagles also sported a 6-0 advantage on points off of turnovers and 5-0 on fast breaks. By the end of the game, Cal Baptist had committed 23 turnovers against only 15 for Biola.
The Eagles came off the exhilarating win on homecoming night still needing to finish the season up on the road at Hope University. Hope grabbed a 13-5 lead in the first five minutes, amassing a 22-9 lead with 9:11 to go in the half, eventually leading by six at the half. But the Eagles came out of the locker room hot, shot 56.3 percent after halftime and ran over Hope 45-28 in the second half. Conicelli had 17 points in just 24 minutes of game time. She was held to only three rebounds due to some foul trouble. De Luca and French added 14 and 11 respectively. French also grabbed nine rebounds.
The Eagles end the regular season 19-10 and fourth in the GSAC at 14-6. That’s good for a No. 4 seed in the GSAC playoffs starting Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., when the team will host Master’s College, which the Eagles beat twice in the regular season. With a win, they would go on to face either No. 1 seed Vanguard or No. 8 seed Concordia on Friday.
In addition to the team’s postseason accolades, Conicelli was named to the All-GSAC team on Tuesday for the second straight season. She recorded 13 double-doubles, averaged 16.5 points per game and led the GSAC with 10.3 rebounds per game. She was one of only 11 players in the NAIA to average a double-double and was in the top 12 of GSAC in 10 offensive categories.
