LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Senior guard
Jennifer French hit seven three-pointers and scored a career-high 31 points to lead No. 12 Biola to a 76-49 upset victory over No. 6 Vanguard University in GSAC game on Saturday night at Chase Gymnasium.
The Eagles, who picked up their second victory over an NAIA Top 10 team this week, improve to 8-2 on the season and move into a five-way tie atop the conference with a 3-1 record. The Lions drop to 5-3 overall and to 3-1 in GSAC play.
French had a stellar night, scoring 31 points thanks in large part to seven three-pointers. She hit 7-of-14 from long range, added a pair of great layups and successfully converted on all six free-throw attempts. She also had four rebounds, four steals and an assists in 34 minutes.
Senior forward
Jessilyn Conicelli added 17 points and seven rebounds while senior center
Christina Barclay scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and had a game-high nine rebounds.
"This was a great win tonight," said Head Coach Ken Crawford. "We have such respect for the Vanguard program and for Coach Russ Davis. For us to be able to beat them is a major accomplishment for us and one that we don't take lightly."
Biola finally got the Vanguard monkey off its back, beating the Lions for the first time since 2004, snapping a 14-game losing streak to its GSAC rival. The Eagles pulled of the win thanks to solid shooting—hitting 46.7 percent from the field—and stellar defense—holding Vanguard to 27 percent shooting and just five field goals in the second half.
Vanguard got off to a strong start in the game, jumping out to an early 8-0 lead, hitting a pair of three-pointers while Biola missed its first three shots and had three turnovers in the opening four minutes. But the Eagles started to figure things out from there, using a 15-2 run over the next three minutes to take a 15-10 lead.
After the Lions pulled to within three at 18-15 a few minutes later, Biola answered back with an 8-0 run to take a commanding 10-point lead just past the half-way point of the period. The Eagles led by as many as 15 in the first half and took a 39-27 lead to the half.
Biola still held a 12-point edge three minutes into the second period when a three-pointer by French keyed a 12-0 run as the Eagles went up 55-31 at the 14:30 mark. Biola held Vanguard to just one field goal over a 10 minute stretch, building its lead to as many as 28 over the final five minutes.
French did much of her damage in the second half, hitting four three-pointers and scoring 18 points while Vanguard scored just 22. The Lions were 0-of-12 from beyond the arc in the second period and converted just 5-of-25 field goal attempts.
The only major issue for the Eagles their 22 turnovers which led to 22 Vanguard points.
"I was pleased with how we played a full 40 minutes tonight," said Crawford. "We had a great team energy and played well. We are looking forward to a bit of time off and when we come back we want to go after it even harder."
The Eagles have a two-week break ahead of them, returning to action on Tuesday, Dec. 28 when they host the Biola University Holiday Classic. Biola is one 13-teams in the classic field which will feature 17 games over a three-day stretch. The Eagles open on Tuesday night with a game against the University of Alberta, which tips off at 5:30 p.m.
