Women’s basketball headed south for an important PacWest matchup at Point Loma Nazarene University on Wednesday. The Eagles kept the game close throughout, but could not quite get over the hump, losing their first conference game 60-53.

Junior guard Tatum Brimley led the Eagles with 16 points to go with four steals, while sophomore forward Jazz Benn and junior forward Mikayla Greens chipped in nine points apiece. Greens led Biola on the boards with seven rebounds, followed by Benn with six.

TOUGH BATTLE

The Sea Lions pulled ahead 13-7 early in the first quarter, but a three-pointer from Brimley followed by a layup from Greens pulled the Eagles within one at 13-12. The two teams battled back and forth, and a three-pointer from junior guard Kayla Macedo with nine seconds left in the quarter put Biola ahead 17-16 at the end of the first.

Points were hard to come by in the second quarter as both defenses adjusted and stepped up their play, and the score stood at 25 apiece until PLNU flipped the script on the Eagles, hitting a late three-pointer of their own to end the second quarter and pull ahead 28-25 at the half.

NARROW LOSS

Biola took back the lead on a Benn layup early in the third quarter, and two free throws from Greens gave the Eagles their largest lead of the night at 35-30. A flurry of threes from the Sea Lions put them back in the lead, but redshirt freshman guard Danita Estorga converted a layup to bring Biola back to within one, 38-37 heading into the fourth quarter.

The three-point shooting of PLNU remained hot in the fourth quarter, as they took a commanding 50-41 lead off of several shots from behind the arc. Brimley then scored four straight points to make it 50-47, but another three-pointer from the Sea Lions proved to be the dagger as the Eagles could not catch up, eventually falling 60-53 to PLNU.

Biola (4-5, 2-1 PacWest) will look to bounce back at Concordia University Irvine on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.