BOX SCORE
LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Summer Matthews' return to the Biola University lineup was an impressive one as the sophomore scored a game-high 21 points and added nine rebounds to lead the Eagles to a 69-59 upset over No. 22 Westmont College Tuesday night in La Mirada.
Biola improves to 7-7 on the year and 3-3 in GSAC play with its second-straight victory while the Warriors fall to 9-4 and 4-2 in the conference.
Matthews, who had not played since mid-November due to a hand injury, was 6-of-7 from the field and 9-of-12 from the free throw line while playing just 21 minutes of her first game back.
Freshman forward Richae Kater also had a strong night, scoring a season-high 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting and also pulling down five rebounds. She opened the game by scoring eight of the Eagles first 10 points.
The game was close to start with both teams playing rather conservative ball. However, the Eagles broke the game wide open with a 16-4 run that spanned nearly eight minutes of the first half and gave them a 28-15 lead with 5:39 remaining in the half.
In the second, Biola kept the pressure up and took a 47-32 lead on back-to-back layups by Matthews, the second coming right at the 12 minute mark.
Westmont then went on a run of their own, outscoring the Eagles 19-4 over the next 6:25 to tie the game up at 51 with just over five minutes remaining. But Mandi England hit one of her two big three-pointers to give Biola the lead right back.
Her second came minutes later after the Warriors' Alisha Heglund drilled a long three to pull Westmont back to within one at 58-57. England responded with a trey from the corner to put the lead back up to four. That three pointer began a 11-2 Biola run to end the game.
England finished with 12 points on the night and also had seven rebounds and five assists.
Biola was shot a season-best 50 percent from the field (27-of-54), but allowed the Warriors to stay in the game by committing 29 turnovers.
The Eagles hope to continue their winning-streak Saturday (Jan. 13) as they travel to face Concordia University at 5:30 p.m. in Irvine.
