BOX SCORE

SALT LAKE CITY --- Despite an off-night shooting, Biola walked away with its fourth-straight victory to start the season, beating Montana State University-Northern 56-54 on Saturday night to close out the Westminster College Tournament in Salt Lake City.

The Eagles improve to 4-0 on the season with the victory, matching the best start since the 2004-05 season when Biola won its first seven games and finished the year 28-8. The Skylights fall to 4-3 with the loss.

Freshman guard Charrise Reese continued her strong play in Utah, scoring 13 points to lead the Eagles. Reese, who scored 16 in last night's win over No. 16 Westminster, added three assists and four rebounds. Sophomore forward Jessilyn Conicelli had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The game was another nailbiter from start to finish just like Biola's win on Friday. The Eagles opened quickly with back-to-back three-pointers by Chelsea De Luca to take an early 6-0 lead. Montana-State Northern rallied back and the two teams stayed within a few points of each other for nearly the rest of the half. 

Late in the period, though, Biola managed to pull away a bit, breaking a 27-27 tie with an 8-3 run over the final six minutes to take a 35-30 lead at half.

In the second half, Biola continued to play well, leading by as many as eight as junior guard Elise Paty hit a three-pointer with 13:32 to play which made it 44-36. But the Skylights continued to make things tough on the Eagles, closing the gap and eventually taking a 54-53 lead on a three by Awilda Hernandez with 3:33 to play.

That basket proved to be the final one by Montana State-Northern, though. With 2:07 to play, sophomore forward Jenna French hit a layup off a steal by De Luca to put the Eagles back up one. The Skylights missed three-point attempts on their next two possessions then turned the ball over on their final possession with five seconds to play.

Montana State-Northern was led by Stacie Barker, who scored 10 points and had 10 rebounds, while Jennie Lee added 10 points in the losing effort.

The Eagles return to action on Tuesday (Nov. 25), traveling to face NCAA Division II Cal State Dominguez Hills in a non-conference game in Ca