LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Senior guard Jennifer French scored 29 points and senior forward Jessilyn Conicelli added 19 points to lead Biola to a hard-fought 65-58 victory over Holy Names University on Wednesday night at the 2010 Biola University Holiday Classic at Chase Gymnasium.

The Eagles, ranked No. 7 in the latest NAIA National Rankings, improve to 10-2 on the season, while the Hawks fall to 4-12 overall.

Biola struggled in the contest against Holy Names' tough defensive pressure. The Eagles had 24 turnovers and shot just 35.5 percent in the game. However, they held the Hawks to just 24.6 percent shooting to hold on for the win.

French had a banner night with 29 points, hitting 9-of-17 from the field and adding six steals. she played just 27 minutes after picking up her fourth foul on a questionable technical foul call early in the second half.

Concicelli added 19 points and 11 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season, adding two blocks, two steals and an assist in 25 minutes. The pair proved to be the bulk of the Biola offense as no other Eagles scored more than four points.

Biola led the game for all but 14 seconds, but never seemed to be able to pull away from the Hawks. After opening an early 11-3 lead, Holy Names came roaring back and took their only lead of the game at 17-16 with 7:45 left in the first. Biola responded with a free throw by Emily Drews to tie the score, then added a layup by French off a steal to go back on top.

With the score tied at 19-19 a minute later, Biola closed out the half with a nice run, outscoring the visitors 11-2 to take a 30-21 halftime lead.

In the second, Biola stretched the lead to as many as 20 as Deshaye Sells hit a jumper with 12:20 to play to put the Eagles up 52-32. But the Hawks refused to go away and pulled to within 11 just four minutes later on a three-pointer by Danika Potestio which made it 54-43 with under eight minutes to go.

Biola would go back up by 13 at 56-43, Holy Names caught fire, using a 12-3 run to cut the lead to four at 59-55 with 1:59 remaining. But that would be as close as they could get as the Eagles converted free throws and forced a pair of turnovers down the stretch to pull out the victory.

The Eagles held a slight 52-49 edge in rebounding despite holding a distinct height advantage over the Hawks. Holy Names did manage to lead the battle on the offensive glass, pulling down 24 boards on its end of the court, but were outscored 18-14 in second-chance opportunities.

Biola closes out the 2010 Biola University Holiday Classic on Thursday in a busy day of action at Chase Gymnasium. The Eagles play the final of five games on their home court at 8:15 p.m. The first of the five games begins at Noon.