BOX SCORE
LA MIRADA, Calif. — Megann Alberts scored 26 points and had 10 rebounds and Summer Matthews added 19 points as Biola defeated Concordia 80-75 in overtime on Saturday night in a GSAC game at Chase Gymnasium.
Biola improves to 5-11 overall and 2-5 in GSAC with the victory and snaps a six-game losing streak. Concordia drops to 8-9 and 2-5 in conference play.
Biola came out strong for the second-straight contest, scoring the game's first 11 points while hitting its first four shots. But Concordia rallied back over the next 11 minutes and took its first lead of the game at 23-22 on a three-pointer by Nicole Fu at 7:23. CUI extended its lead to as many as nine in the half before settling for a 36-29 edge at halftime.
In the second, Concordia extended the lead back to nine early before Biola mounted a quick run to pull back to within one at 43-42 just over five minutes into the half. The two teams then exchanged buckets for the rest of the half with neither team able to take a lead bigger than three points.
After Alberts tied the game with a deep jumper with just over three minutes to play, neither team would score again until Priscilla Angeloni hit a pair of free throws to put Concordia up 67-65 with 20 seconds to go. Biola struck back quickly as Alberts scored on a reverse-layup with nine seconds remaining to tie the score for the eighth time and send the game to overtime.
Kayanna Nichols gave Concordia the early edge in overtime, scoring a jumper nearly a minute into the extra session. The teams traded basked for the next two minutes until a jumper by Fu put CUI up 73-70 with 2:08 remaining. Alberts then responded by hitting a pair of free throws and gave Biola a 74-73 lead with a jumper at the 1:19 mark.
After Fu put Concordia back on top with two free throws with 57 seconds remaining, Elise Paty gave Biola its final lead with a three-pointer from the corner to put BU up 77-75 with 44 seconds left. Concordia turned the ball over on its next possession after a questionable three-second call and Biola iced the game thanks to a pair of Matthews' free throws.
Paty finished the game with nine points on three three-pointers with Chelsea De Luca adding eight points.
For Matthews, it was the first time she had reached double-digits in eight games. She was 7-for-9 from the field and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Alberts was a steady contributor for Biola, scoring 10 in the first period, 11 in the second and five in the overtime session. The two teamed up to dominate inside and gave Biola a 32-8 edge in points in the paint.
Biola shots an impressive 53 percent in the game including 63 percent in the second half and 60 percent in overtime. Biola held Concordia to 39 percent shooting and forced 21 turnovers
Biola's next game is on Tuesday (Jan. 22) against Fresno Pacific University at 5:30 p.m. in Chase Gymnasium.
