Although the Eagles have been eliminated from the GSAC tournament, their hopes of earning an at-large bid to the NAIA National Tournament are still alive.
Westmont snaps Biola’s seven game win streak
After closing out their regular season with six consecutive wins, the Biola women’s basketball team opened up the Golden State Athletic Conference playoffs with a 65-53 win over San Diego Christian College on Feb. 29. Two days later Biola fell to NAIA No. 5 Westmont College 84-56 in a semifinal match on Friday, ending their win streak at seven games. Westmont won the GSAC title with a 70-64 win over Azusa Pacific University on Monday.
Thirty-two teams will be chosen to play, and the Eagles are the closest of any non-ranked team to the top 25; therefore, they stand a good chance of earning a spot. The tournament begins on March 14 in Frankfort, Ky.
In this close contest against San Diego Christian, Biola senior Charrise Reece once again led her team, this time with 18 points and six assists while sophomore Adijat Adams added another 16 points and 11 rebounds. Even though Biola kept a steady lead throughout the first period, San Diego Christian stayed close, trailing by no more than five.
“We played as a team. Charrise Reece led us the whole game,” senior Lauren Gustafson said. “I enjoyed riding her coattails the whole game, I was really proud of her and all that she had accomplished that game.”
Despite poor shooting, Eagles lead after first half
After making only 24 percent of their field goals in the first half, the Eagles managed to end it with a three-point lead that only increased in the second half. Biola improved their field goal shots by 20 percent in the second period and with two minutes left in the game, they led by 12 points. At this point, Biola’s Adams and San Diego’s Juanita Lewis both received technical fouls after a tough foul and confrontation that resulted in the ejection of Adams from the game.
This ejection prevented Adams from being able to play in Biola’s semifinal game against Westmont. Without their leading scorer, the Eagles knew the game was going to be a challenge.
“It was the third time we played Westmont this year, so we knew our opponents very well,” Gustafson said. “We knew what they were trying to do, who their key players were, and how they were going to try and execute the game.”
Freshman Chelsea Hill had a high-scoring game to help fill in the absence of Adams with 21 points and six rebounds. Gustafson added another 13 points.
From the start, the Warriors proved to be a tough team when a 3-pointer by Brittany Daniel started off the first half of the game. Biola stuck close, trailing by only one in the first five minutes of the game. But a 14-point run quickly after that put the Warriors ahead and helped them end the half ahead 36-22. Westmont made 60 percent of their field goals in the first half, nearly doubling Biola’s.
Westmont matches Biola score for score
With 11:48 left in the game Biola found themselves down by 21. In this last period, the Eagles scored only 33.3 percent of their shots and missed all four of their 3-point field goal attempts. On the contrary, the Warriors made 48.48 percent of their shots and made five of their nine 3-point attempts. During this last period, Westmont responded well to every shot made by the Eagles.
“If we scored, they would answer by scoring right after,” Gustafson said. “It was a back-and forth battle that dug us into a hole that we just couldn’t get out of in the second half.”
Although the Warriors’ field goal percentage dropped by 20 from the first to second half, it was still no match for the struggling Eagles who were short 28 points at the end of the game.
