The Biola University women’s basketball team seemed to have everything against them as they suffered a devastating 70-62 upset to visiting Concordia University in the first round of the Golden State Athletic Conference tournament Wednesday, March 2. Biola fans at Chase Gymnasium were on the edge of their seats as unranked Concordia, the sixth seed of the tournament, led for most of the game.
Biola Eagles fall short
Biola, ranked eighth in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Conference and the second seed of the GSAC tournament, played one of their worst games of the season in the loss. They posted their worst field goal percentage of the season at 30 percent, while shooting 16 percent from behind the 3-point line. To add to this, senior Christina Barclay, who has been a dominant post presence for Biola during the season was held to only eight points on 2-8 shooting, although she did pull down 10 rebounds.
The reigning GSAC player of the year, senior Jessilyn Conicelli posted her 25th double-double of the season with 22 points and 15 rebounds while senior Jennifer French, an all-GSAC team selection, scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds in their final game at Biola. Despite these efforts, it just was not enough to get the victory.
Score close in first half
Biola opened the game with two quick 3-pointers by French to jump out to a 6-0 lead. However, in the following minutes, Concordia answered with two 3-pointers of their own, one by senior Patrice Hunter and one by senior Nicole Fu, to tie the score at 6-6. The teams exchanged the lead back and forth throughout the half.
With one minute remaining in the period, Concordia senior Britnie Priest sank a 3-pointer to take the lead at 27-30. Biola retaliated with a layup by French as time expired for the half to bring the score to 29-30. French was on fire during the first period, scoring all of her 15 points.
Biola shoots poorly in second half
Biola fought back during the entire second half, but they were unable to take the lead. For the period, they shot 0-10 from behind the 3-point arc. They also could not seem to find a way to stop Concordia’s Fu who led her team with 22 points and 11 rebounds. She made all six of her free throws and shot 57 percent from the field including 4-7 from 3-point range.
“She is a great player, she has a great pull up jump shot, she is quick, and she had an on game,” Conicelli said of Fu.
Concordia’s other player in double figures was Priest, who had 19 points in 19 minutes of play.
Biola Eagles may go to tournament despite loss
Although Biola fell to a 25-6 record because of the loss, they are most likely to still receive a birth into the NAIA tournament, which begins on March 16 and runs through March 22 in Jackson, Tenn. In the meantime, they will be preparing to bounce back from the defeat to Concordia by looking for a win in their first game of the tournament.
“As coach puts it, we need to make a conscious effort to win. We can’t just wait for it to happen because we are a good team and we have a lot of good players,” Conicelli commented. “We can’t sit back and think that it’s going to come to us.”
They will receive word concerning their placement in the tournament on Wednesday, March 9.
