LA MIRADA, Calif. --- The return road to the NAIA Championships for the Biola women's basketball team will be a rough one as the 2009-10 schedule, which was released by Head Coach Ken Crawford on Friday features 13 games against teams which finished ranked in the top 25 of their respective divisions.
The highlight of the difficult schedule will be right at the beginning where the Eagles travel to Jackson, Tennessee for the Jackson Rotary Classic at Oman Arena, the site of the NAIA Championships. Biola opens the trip on Thursday, Nov. 19 with a game against No. 3 Lambuth University (Tenn.). On Friday, the Eagles take on No. 6 Freed-Hardeman University (Tenn.), and wrap up the trip by facing defending NAIA-Champion Union University (Tenn.).
Biola returns to Southern California for its home opener on Tuesday, Nov. 24, squaring off against cross-town rival Whittier College at 7:00 p.m. at Chase Gymnasium.
The Eagles follow that up a week later with their GSAC opener, hosting Fresno Pacific University on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 5:30 p.m.
The road once again gets tough for Biola, which battles No. 2 Vanguard University in Costa Mesa on Saturday, Dec. 5 followed by a home game against No. 8 Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday, Dec. 12.
Biola will take part in a pair of Christmas Break tournaments, the first at UC San Diego on Dec. 18-19, then hosting the second on Dec. 29-30.
The UC San Diego tournament is hosted by the Tritons, the defending California Collegiate Athletic Association champions who finished the 2008-09 season ranked No. 16 in the NCAA Division II standings. The Eagles face UCSD on Friday, Dec. 18 at 7:00 p.m., then play Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
Biola hosts the first annual Biola University/Guesthouse Inn Classic on Tuesday, Dec. 29 and Wednesday, Dec. 30. The Eagles face South Dakota School of Mines in the opener on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. and battle Black Hills State, which ended the season ranked No. 11 in the NAIA Division II rankings, on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
Upon entering the new year, Biola plays 17 of its final 18 games in the always-tough Golden State Athletic Conference. First up is a trip to face arch-rival Azusa Pacific on Tuesday, Jan. 5. The Cougars finished just one game ahead of the Eagles in the 2008-09 GSAC standings as the two teams split the series last year.
Azusa Pacific makes its return trip to Chase Gymnasium on Tuesday, Feb. 9, for what should be an epic battle between the two rivals.
Biola will once again take part in "Think Pink" night to help raise money in the battle against breast cancer. The Eagles host No. 16 Westmont College in the "Think Pink" night on Tuesday, Feb. 16. They will also help Chapman University raise money for the cause when the two teams face off on Thursday, Feb. 11 in the lone non-conference game of the second-half of the season.
Biola returns four of its five starters and 10 of 11 players from the 2008-09 team which finished fifth in the GSAC and reached the NAIA Championship Tournament for the first time in six seasons. The Eagles also became the first women's basketball team to win an NAIA tournament game, beating Trevecca Nazarene 65-57 in the first round.
CLICK HERE to view the complete 2009-10 schedule.
