LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Sophomore guard Charrise Reece and junior forward Jessilyn Conicelli each scored 14 points to lead Biola to a 72-50 GSAC win over Hope International University on Tuesday night at Chase Gymnasium.

The Eagles improve to 12-6 on the season with their ninth win in the last 10 games, wrapping up the first half of conference play with an 8-2 record--its best-ever record at the halfway point of conference play. The Royals drop to 7-13 overall and to 2-8 in the conference.

After a sluggish first half by both teams, Biola exploded in the second half, using an early 19-3 run to break the game open. The Eagles, who had shot 36 percent in the first half, connected on just under 53 percent of their second-half shots including five three-pointers. The Royals were able to shoot just 37 percent after hitting 24 percent from the field in the first half.

Conicelli recorded her second double-double in three games, scoring 14 points and adding 12 rebounds--six of each coming on the offensive and defensive glass, respectively. She also had six assists, three steals and was 5-of-10 from the floor. Reece also had 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-3 from three-point range. She added a game-high four steals, four rebounds and one assist.

Both teams struggled at different times in the first half. Biola had the run of play through the midpoint of the half, using a 16-0 run over a six-minute span to take a 17-5 lead. They would lead by as many as 13 in the first half, but fell silent later in the period and allowed Hope to close the gap to nine at the half.

Hope would open the second half with a bucket to cut the lead to seven and still trailed by seven at 28-21 with 17:33 remaining in the game. But Biola used another long run to pull away, outscoring the Royals 19-3 over the next six minutes to take a commanding 47-24 lead with 11:09 to go. Hope was not able to get any closer than 16 the rest of the way as the Eagles cruised.

Biola doubled-up on Hope in scoring in the paint at 32-16 and forced 21 turnovers by the Royals. The Eagles were able to turn those miscues into 32 points with a large portion of those points coming during the two long runs.

Senior guard Chelsea De Luca scored 11 points thanks to three big three-pointers. She also had two assists in 28 minutes. Sophomore guard Lauren Gustafson added seven points off the bench.

Lindsay Salazar scored 14 points for the Royals with seven coming from the free throw line.

Biola opens the second half of conference play with a tough GSAC battle, traveling to San Diego to take on No. 2 Point Loma Nazarene. The Sea Lions have lost just once this season, an 81-72 loss at the hands of the Eagles at Chase Gymnasium way back in November. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.