Biola women’s basketball collected their fifth straight win, defeating Hope International University 69-57 on Saturday, Feb. 18, and San Diego Christian College 48-45 Tuesday, Feb. 21. Saturday night’s win put the Eagles in fourth place in the GSAC and secured a first-round, home playoff game.
16-0 run gives Eagles insurmountable lead
Adijat Adams and Emily Drews both had 14 points in the game against Hope. Adams came up with 10 boards and Drews with eight. Chelsea Hill also added 13 points in only 17 minutes of play. An Early 11-1 run gave the Royals the lead, but the Eagles responded with 16 unanswered points and took charge of the game from that point on.
After Saturday’s win, the Eagles came back to take on San Diego Christian at home. Biola trailed by as much as 21 in the first half, but a late second half comeback put the Eagles on top.
Biola trailed the Hawks by 11 going into the break and after a key halftime talk by the coaches, the Eagles turned it around, outscoring San Diego by 14 in the second half.
“We just emphasized that we needed to keep composure, there is still a whole half left to play,” said assistant coach Junior Jamreonvit.
Jamreonvit pointed out that the team came out a little soft at the beginning of the game. Biola shot 26.92 percent from the field in the first half, converting on only seven shots out of the 26 taken. The Eagles did not make a 3-pointer or a free throw going into the half.
Brittany Daniel led San Diego Christian with 15 points, nine rebound and five assists. Jasmin Thomas and Brittany Robinson also added eight points each for the Hawks.
Adams, a sophomore center for Biola, was questioning why the team as a whole was being so timid after only shooting 26 shots in the first half.
“Let’s just go out there and play hard,” she said. “Let’s go back at it, the first half is in the past. … let’s go.”
Adams ended the game with 16 points and 14 rebounds. She leads the team with 12.6 points per game and 7.4 rebounds. Senior Charrise Reece is tops on the team with 125 assists.
Late-game scoring run seals win for Biola
The Eagles were trailing the Hawks by five with 4:27 left on the game clock but a 9-0 run gave Biola just what they needed to take the lead and win.
Adams had a key layup with 2:46 left on the clock to tie the score at 42, then followed with another layup to put the Eagles on top. Reece made it to the line and after making both free throws, Biola led by four.
Heather Serven answered for the Hawks by hitting a big 3-pointer with 28 seconds to play, cutting the lead to one.
After an intentional foul against the Eagles, Biola came down and made both free throws. This forced the Hawks to make one final 3-point attempt, but the shot did not fall and the Eagles took the win.
Biola, now 19-9 on the season and 10-7 in the Golden State Athletic Conference, will come out again Saturday, Feb. 25, to take on The Master’s College in their last game of the regular season. Prior to tipoff Lauren Gustafson, Emily Drews and Charrise Reece will be honored during senior night.
