Women’s basketball grabbed its first victory of the year in its fourth game, a nonconference matchup against the La Sierra University Golden Eagles. The game took off quickly with Biola taking the lead and holding it till the end. With the win, the Eagles broke their three-game losing streak and set a new season best with a final score of 86-54.
Biola flew out of the gates at the start of the first quarter with a three-point shot by junior guard Tatum Brimley. After that, the Eagles held the lead with several more clutch shots while the Golden Eagles fell short. Biola also scored 12 points in the paint and 10 fast break points in the quarter alone. The first quarter ended with an Eagles lead of 25-15.
In the second quarter, Biola pushed a tough defense on the Golden Eagles, only allowing them 10 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in the quarter. The Eagles led at halftime 40-25.
The Golden Eagles tried to catch up to Biola by putting up 15 points in the third quarter. However, the Eagles continued to lead, 59-40. In the final quarter, the Eagles blew out the Golden Eagles by recording 27 points and 10 turnovers within the time period.
Sophomore forward Jazz Benn led the team with 13 points and 10 rebounds on the night.
“As a team [we want to] to work better together… and get more stops on defense,” Benn said. “My teammates were still there and supportive, and… we played good defense.”
Each Eagle who played contributed to the score, including 30 points from bench. Biola also recorded 25 assists and 17 three-point shots in the game. Junior guard Jelissa Puckett grabbed seven assists, freshman forward Danita Estorga snagged four steals and junior forward Mikayla Greens had four turnovers.
Nonconference matchups prepare the Eagles for PacWest conference play later this season.
“The number of assists really showed that we were playing like a team,” said head coach Alan Nakamura. “We’re continuing to work and build and adjust and get better everyday and then we’re gonna try to hit the PacWest conference.”
The win moved the Eagles to 1-3. They will participate in a two-day invitational in Azusa, California with games against Northeastern State University on Nov. 23 at 1 p.m. and Northwest Nazarene University on Nov. 24 at 1 p.m.
