After losing a surprise game against The Master’s University on Feb. 4, Biola’s women’s basketball team nabbed three solid wins. On the road, they beat the William Jessup University Warriors 79-62 on Feb. 9 and the Menlo College Oaks 76-67 on Feb. 11, then destroyed the Vanguard University Lions 71-47 at home on Feb. 14.
Kirton leads the way
Biola made the journey to Northern California for their games against William Jessup and Menlo, and they made the most of their time playing two of the weaker teams in the Golden State Athletic Conference. Against William Jessup, the Eagles had fantastic starts in the first quarter of each half, outscoring the Warriors 52-28 in those periods. Jessup outscored Biola in the second and fourth quarters, but could not make up the score discrepancy. Senior forward Joclyn Kirton led the way with 26 points, followed by a 19-point night from junior guard DeMoria White.
Two nights later, Menlo surprised Biola by jumping out to an early 23-16 lead after the first quarter. The Eagles responded with a 26-12 second quarter to give them a lead they never relinquished. The win marked Biola’s 10th regular season win, a feat they last accomplished in the 2011-2012 season. On top of that, Kirton finished the game with a career-high 30 points plus 14 rebounds for yet another double-double.
After returning to Southern California, Biola faced off against the No. 3 Vanguard Lions in a battle of top-three GSAC teams. Vanguard entered 12-0 in conference play and averaging 78.2 points per game, while Biola averaged 71.7. However, Vanguard had an uncharacteristic night, where they scored only 47 off 25.4 percent shooting from the field. Biola shot 46.9 percent from the field, with 20, 15 and 13 points from White, senior guard Annie Park and Kirton, respectively.
thinking team-first
“We don’t have players who are on their own agendas. They’re all thinking team-first and you could see that tonight,” said head coach Alan Nakamura. “What really started the game for us was defense and that definitely takes a team commitment.”
Biola moves to 11-3 in conference play and 20-6 overall, with only three regular season games left. The first of those is an away match against the last-in-conference Hope International University Royals on Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m.
