Early Lead Slips Away to Royals, 63-57

Box Score 

(2/26/08 - Women's Basketball) FULLERTON - Despite building an early 10-point lead, visiting Concordia was unable to hold off Hope International and dropped a 63-57 decision to the Royals, Tuesday evening in Golden State Athletic Conference play.

The Eagles came out of the gates firing as Tyler Howard came off the bench to tally 7 points while Kayanna Nichols added a three-pointer and a short jumper. The three-ball from Nichols sparked a 10-0 run that Ivanna Warren capped off with a three of her own to build a 21-9 lead at the 8:55 mark.

Howard hit another three-pointer to help the Eagles regain their 10-point cushion with 4:28 left before halftime. However, the Royals made a strong charge before the teams went to the break.

Defending GSAC Player of the Week Brittani Philbrook answered the Howard trey with a jumper, then Cynthia Hernandez converted a conventional three-point play to halve the Concordia lead. In all, the Royals outscored the Eagles, 12-4, over the final 5:04 to trim their deficit to 34-32.

The late charge by the Royals carried over into the second half as they quickly turned the game upside down. Jasmine Nault, the leading scorer in the NAIA, tied the game 53 seconds into the half to kick off a 19-2 stretch. Stephanie Wenke hit a jumper at the 12:49 mark to build a 51-36 lead after the Eagles had missed six-straight shots and committed three turnovers to start the half.

As they have several times this season, the Eagles battled back from double-digit second half deficits to get back in the game. The Eagles answered the Royals' run by scoring the next 10 points with Priscilla Angeloni hitting a jumper at the 9:01 mark to make it 51-46.

The teams traded baskets down the stretch, but the Eagles were unable to get any closer than four points. Angeloni hit back-to-back buckets to bring the Eagles to within 61-57 with 1:25 remaining before Hernandez hit two free throws with 42 seconds left. The Eagles came down and got Nicole Fu a pair of looks from beyond the arc, but she missed on both attempts before Philbrook pulled down the second rebound.

Philbrook gave the Eagles hope by missing the front end of her 1-and-1 and Priscilla Henry got the rebound, but Nichols missed a three-pointer, then Ivanna Warren misfired on another jumper before time expired.

Free throws proved to be the difference in the game as the Eagles converted one more field goal than the Royals, but had nine less free throws made. The rebounding battle was almost even with the Royals holding a slight 36-35 edge while the teams also had a similar number of turnovers.

Howard led the way for the Eagles with 14 points, hitting on 5-of-7 from the field. Warren, Angeloni and Fu all chipped in with 8 points while Wallace paced the team with 8 rebounds.

Nault led all scorers with 22 points to go along with 11 rebounds for Hope International (17-13, 8-10 GSAC). Philbrook tossed in 13 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists while Sarah Nylander added 12 points.

Concordia (10-18, 4-14 GSAC) returns home this Thursday, February 28 to take on #21-ranked Westmont at 5:30 p.m.