Biola hosted the Dominican University of California women’s basketball team at Chase Gymnasium Saturday afternoon. The Eagles struggled in the beginning to face the Penguins on man-to-man defense. However, they quickly found their rhythm and started making shots. The team’s communication, passing and tough defense helped them achieve tonight’s win of 70-58.  

Making noise on the court tonight was sophomore guard Asyia Johnson with 17 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Freshman guard Stephanie Lee also performed impressively, with 15 points, four steals, and three rebounds. Following her teammates, junior forward Jazz Benn put up 11 points, seven rebounds, five steals and three assists. Lastly, senior guard Tatum Brimley aided her team with 12 points. 

DOMINICAN’T

Biola struggled entering the first quarter, trailing four points behind the Penguins until the six-minute point. Down four, the Eagles’ momentum started with a jumper from Johnson before Benn turned on the switch to score eight points for Biola. The Eagles stepped it up on defense as well, continuing to fluster Dominican as they ran the shot clock and stole the ball. In the last 10 seconds, Lee crossed her opponent, stepped back to the 3-point line, and fell for a buzzer beater to end the quarter 22-11. 

Transitioning into the second quarter, the Eagles had a profound defensive dominance on the court. Through this change in defense, Biola kept their energy and pace to a consistent speed that Dominican couldn’t follow. However, the Penguins later in the quarter progressed their defense as more scrappy and invasive, making it difficult for the Eagles to efficiently pass the ball. This was only a slight setback and Biola quickly adjusted, contributing 18 points as a team to end the half 40-32. 

“I feel like we really executed the game plan,” Johnson said. “Our game plan was to shut down number three and make sure she didn’t get to her average, but she did. But to also just really be active on defense, we had a lot of steals off our press today.”

COMMUNICATION IS KEY

The Eagles came out in the second half with intense prowess to push the ball down the court. This fast-paced offensive strategy left Dominican frustrated as they continued to foul and give Biola more scoring opportunities. Johnson led the way as she drove to the basket, assisted her teammates and communicated with her team across the court. Approaching the fourth quarter, tensions rose as the Eagles ran their defense hoping to keep their 12-point lead. Johnson continued to show aggression in the paint, Benn had no mercy for the backboard and Brimley finished with a deep 3-point shot that showed those Penguins just how Eagles fly.

“The game plan overall was to really emphasize team defense, toughness, working together and communicating,” said head coach Alan Nakamura. “On offense we usually play better when we are flowing into offense so we tried to emphasize everybody getting open for each other, sharing the ball, staying focused on making the extra pass and we did that really well for most of the game.”

The Eagles (13-6 overall, 9-4 PacWest) will take on Point Loma Nazarene University at Chase Gymnasium on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 5:30 p.m.