BOX SCORE
FRESNO, Calif. — Senior Mandi England's free throw with 13 seconds to play lifted Biola to a 59-58 win over Fresno Pacific University to clinch the Eagles' first GSAC playoff appearance in four years on Tuesday night at the Special Events Center in Fresno.
Biola improves to 9-19 overall and improves to 6-12 in the conference thanks to its second-straight victory. The Sunbirds fall to 9-20 and 2-17 in GSAC.
The Eagles were led by junior Megann Alberts, who recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds on the night. Junior Summer Matthews added 13 points for Biola while sophomore Elise Paty scored 11 points off the bench thanks to three three-pointers.
The game proved to be another nail-biter from start to finish as both teams played inspired ball. Biola got the early jump on things, leading through most of the first half and taking a six-point lead to halftime.
A three-pointer by Paty one minute into the second half gave the Eagles their biggest lead of the game at 32-21. However, the Sunbirds slowly began to cut into the lead and took their first lead of the half on a three-pointer Samantha Cardeno to go up 48-47 with 8:55 to play.
The teams battled back and forth the rest of the way with Biola seeming to have the game locked up as Alberts made a layup with 1:09 to play to give Biola a four-point lead. But Cardeno again drained a three-pointer on the next possession and was fouled, tying the game at 56-56 as she made the free throw.
The Eagles came right back on the next trip down the court and got the ball inside to Kelsey Erickson for a go-ahead layup with 35 seconds to go. But Fresno Pacific was not finished and Jessica Marza quickly tied the score at 58-58 with 21 seconds left on a quick back-door layup.
Biola's last chance was gifted to them as Cardeno fouled England, sending her to the line for two free throws with 13 seconds remaining. She hit one of two free throws to give the Eagles a one-point lead. The Eagles narrowly avoided a deja vu experience as the Sunbirds came right back down and Marza had an open jumper in the paint with time winding down, but the ball rattled around and out as the horn sounded.
Fresno hung in thanks to seven three-pointers in the second half–duplicating its performance from the game between the two earlier this season. FPU drained 13 from beyond the arc in the first meeting including a Cardeno triple at the buzzer to give the Sunbirds a 71-70 win.
Biola fought back with a strong shooting night, hitting 45 percent of its shots from the field. The Eagles also committed just 13 turnovers and did not commit a turnover in the final three minutes of the game.
The win clinches a playoff spot for the Eagles as they can finish no worse than eighth in the conference standings with just two games to play. The last trip for Biola to the GSAC tournament came in 2002-03 when the Eagles pulled off a pair of upsets to reach the conference championship game and earn a berth in the NAIA National Tournament.
Biola returns to the court on Saturday (Mar. 1) for a tough game against Vanguard at 5:30 p.m. at Chase Gymnasium.
