LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Juniors
Christina Barclay and
Jessilyn Conicelli each recorded double-doubles to lead Biola to a 73-62 victory over Westmont College in a GSAC game on Tuesday night at Chase Gymnasium.
The Eagles run their winning streak to three games and improve to 16-9 on the season and to 11-5 in GSAC play. The Warriors drop their second-consecutive game and fall to 15-9, 8-8 in the conference.
Barclay and Conicelli were instrumental in Biola's big second-half run which helped the Eagles overcome a sloppy first half to pull out the win. For Conicelli, it was her 10th double-double of the season and second against the Warriors this year. She finished with a game-high 20 points and 14 rebounds, adding two assists and a steal. Barclay, who recorded her third double-double, added 18 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal.
Biola got off to a slow start, hitting just 34 percent in the first half and headed to the locker room down 30-25.
In the second period, the Eagles pulled back ahead and battled back and forth with the Warriors. Jessica Case hit a jumper at the 9:24 mark which cut Biola's lead to 51-49. But from there it was all Biola as the Eagles rattled off a 16-5 run, capped by a basket by
Charrise Reece to give Biola a 67-54 lead with 2:31 to go.
From that point, the Eagles would take care of the ball and hit just about all of their free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
After the dismal first half, Biola shot 64 percent in the second half while holding the Warriors to 36 percent. Biola also hit 6-of-9 from three-point range in the final 20 minutes.
Junior forward
Jennifer French also reached double-figures for Biola, scoring 14 points and adding three steals. French scored 12 of those points in the second half.
The victory capped a season-sweep by the Eagles, the first such sweep over Westmont since the 1998-99 season. Biola had entered the year having lost its last five games against the Warriors and just four of its last 20 in the series.
Biola will now hit the road for its next two games, traveling to Concordia on Saturday (Feb. 20) for a GSAC contest at 5:30 p.m.