BOX SCORE

LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola jumped out to an early double-digit lead and looked to be cruising before Azusa Pacific University caught fire in the second half and pulled away for a 74-59 victory before a crowd of 1,421 Tuesday night at Chase Gymnasium in La Mirada.

The Cougars, ranked No. 16 in the latest NAIA National Poll, improve to 15-4 overall and 7-3 in conference play. The Eagles fall to 7-11 and 3-7 after the first round of GSAC competition.

Azusa Pacific's Meliame Hala'ufia scored a game-high 28 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to lead the way for the Cougars.

Biola sophomore Megann Alberts nearly matched those numbers, scoring 26 points and had 13 boards of her own.

The Eagles started off hot, using a 17-2 run to build a 22-11 lead midway through the first half. Azusa narrowed the gap to five a number of times with Biola holding a 34-39 lead at the half.

The second half, however, belonged to the Cougars. Azusa took the lead back just four minutes into the period at 40-39 on a three-pointer by Sarah Leathers. Five minutes later, with the game tied at 46-46, the Cougars began to pullaway, using an 8-0 run to go up 54-46 and never looking back.

Azusa led by as many as 16 points late in the game before settling for the 74-59 win.

The Eagles shot just 24 percent in the second half (6-of-25) after hitting nearly 43 percent in the first.

Biola's sophomore forward combination of Kelsey Erickson and Summer Matthews scored 12 and 11 points each, respectively, to help the attack. However, for the second time this season, the starters scored all of the Eagles' 59 points while the bench players took just three shots in a combined 22 minutes of play.

Biola looks to start the second half of conference play on a winning note as the Eagles travel to face San Diego Christian College on Saturday (Jan. 27) at 5:30 p.m.