Biola Batters Eagles on Inside, 70-56

Box Score 

(2/23/08 - Women's Basketball) IRVINE  – The Biola frontcourt duo of Summer Matthews and Megann Alberts combined for 41 points on their way to defeating host Concordia, 70-56, Saturday evening in Golden State Athletic Conference play.

After a fairly even start that saw the teams level at 11-11, Biola took a 28-16 lead thanks to a 18-5 run to the 6:04 mark. Concordia, however, put on its press to force a pair of turnovers to spark a 13-4 burst of their own to close the gap to three at the break, 36-33.

Concordia continued to hit shots and get stops, but could not overcome Biola’s lead until Kayanna Nichols caught fire in the second half. With the Eagles down 52-49, Nichols hit a three from the wing to tie up the game for the first time since the 14:48 mark of the first half. 

Biola managed to fight back, though, extending their lead to nine by finding holes in the full-court pressure. Biola shot 52.9% from the field for the night, compared to the Eagles’ 31.4% performance. Concordia was forced to foul down the stretch and could not make up the deficit to lose the season series to Biola for the first time since the 2001-02 season.

Alberts led all scorers with 24 points and 11 rebounds while Matthews posted 17 points for Biola (8-19, 5-12 GSAC), grabbing 11 rebounds of her own. Concordia was led in defeat by Karen Carney, who finished the night with 15 points off 5-for-10 shooting while tallying seven boards for the Eagles.  Nichols connected on four treys on her way to 14 points.

Concordia drops to 10-17 overall with a 4-13 mark in conference play. The Eagles will try to regroup as they prepare for their final three regular season games against Hope International, Westmont and California Baptist. CU will travel to Fullerton on Tuesday night to take on the Royals at Darling Pavilion at 5:30 p.m.