AZUSA, Calif. --- Biola put up a strong fight to overcome a 13-point, second-half deficit, but could not get over the hump, falling 61-56 to Azusa Pacific in the first round of the GSAC playoffs Wednesday night at the Felix Event Center in Azusa.

The Eagles, who were the tournament's No. 5 seed and are ranked No. 23 in the NAIA, fall to 19-11 on the season with the loss. The Cougars, the No. 4 seed in the GSAC playoffs and ranked No. 18 overall, improve to 22-9.

Senior forward Megann Alberts had 14 points for Biola, leading four Eagles in double figures. She added three assists and four rebounds. Sophomore Jennifer French and freshman Charrise Reece added 11 points each with French pulling down a team-high nine rebounds. Sophomore forward Jessilyn Conicelli scored 10 points and had just six boards for the Eagles.

Biola just did not have an answer for Azusa's Alex Moore-Porter, who scored 18 points and had 15 rebounds and hit a clutch layup with 13 seconds left to give the Cougars' a four-point lead.

The Cougars opened the first half with a quick 7-2 lead and held a 9-5 advantage just under five minutes into the game. The two teams then went quiet over the next six minutes with just a pair of baskets by either team coming right in the middle. Azusa Pacific opened up a seven-point lead on a jumper by Amber Williams which made it 14-7 with 8:55 to go in the period.

The Eagles snapped a four minute scoring drought with a layup by Alberts to close the gap to 14-10. Up until that point, they had gone 3-of-17 from the field, well under 20 percent. Biola still trailed by four with 2:58 to go before the half, but strong defense by the Cougars down the stretch helped them open the lead back up to eight with one minute to go. Richae Kater gave Biola a bit of late momentum in the final seconds, hitting an off-balance jumper to make it a 26-20 APU lead at the break. 

in the second half, the Cougars came out firing and hitting seven of their first 10 shots of the half to build a 36-24 advantage just over four minutes in. Moore-Porter had eight of the first 12 points of the half for Azusa Pacific with Kristie Hala'ufia adding the other four. The Cougars took their largest lead of the game on a three-pointer by Teri Higgenbottom, which made the home side's lead 41-28 with 12:44 to play.

Biola was down by 12 at 46-34 after a three-pointer by Michelle Bryd at the 10:00 mark, but started to make a final push down the stretch. The Eagles used a 14-4 run over the next five minutes to cut the lead down to just two points at 50-48, capping the run on a three-pointer by French with 5:19 to go. But Biola could get no closer down the stretch, pulling back to within two on four occasions down the stretch. 

A layup by Reece at the 2:14 mark made it 56-54 and after a missed shot by Azusa on the other end, Biola had a chance to tie or take the lead with just over a minute to go. But Alberts' pass through the key was intercepted by and turned into a layup by C.J. Hill to stretch to APU lead back to four with 46 seconds to go. Reece answered back with a put-back just 12 seconds later, but Moore-Porter hit a clutch layup with 13 seconds to go which pretty much sealed the deal.

Biola still has a good chance or advancing to the NAIA National Tournament as one of 13 or 14 wild-card spots available as the Eagles were ranked No. 23 in the final NAIA poll. It appears as many as six GSAC teams could make the NAIA tournament, though at least five teams from the conference are likely to make it. The final selections are made on Wednesday, March 11, and the tournament bracket is released on Thursday, March 12.

Azusa Pacific advances to the GSAC semifinals to face Vanguard in Costa Mesa on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The Lions, the tournament's top seed, defeated No. 8 seed Fresno Pacific 70-49. The Lions and Cougars were two of the top four teams to advance to the semifinals as No. 2 Point Loma defeated No. 7 California Baptist 62-50 and No. 3 Westmont held off No. 6 The Master's 87-73.