JACKSON, Tenn. --- Despite a strong performance by junior center Christina Barclay, Biola suffered from early foul trouble and poor shooting, falling 64-49 to Lewis-Clark State in the first round of the 2010 NAIA Women's Basketball National Championship game on Wednesday morning at Oman Arena in Jackson, Tenn.

The Eagles end their season at 20-12 while the Warriors improve to 29-5 and advance to the second-round of the tournament.

Biola suffered from the field in the contest, hitting just 27.9 percent in the game (17-of-61), its worst shooting performance of the season. The Eagles had its second-worst shooting half of the season in the first, hitting 25 percent (9-of-36), and making things worse by having three starters receive three fouls each in the first 20 minutes.

"It was tough getting into early foul trouble and having to rotate players in and out so much," said Biola Head Coach Ken Crawford. "But really, we just didn't shoot well. Part of it was playing in a big open arena but we had some open shots and just didn't nail them."

Despite the tough first half, the Eagles managed to keep the game close with impressive defense and trailed by just seven at the break.

Lewis-Clark State opened the game with the early advantage, using an 11-3 run over the first four minutes to build a quick lead. Compounding things greatly for the Eagles, leading scorer Jessilyn Conicelli was whistled for three quick fouls in the first four minutes of the game.

The Warriors would stretch their lead to 10 at 16-6 before the Eagles really got going after making just three of their first 14 shots.

But the Eagles maanged to stay close in the half, despite losing Charrise Reece and Jennifer French to their third fouls with under four minutes to go in the half. Christina Barclay took over in the final minute, driving to the glass and making a basket while drawing a foul. She missed the free throw but the Eagles got the rebound and Lauren Gustafson scored to complete a four-point possession, making it a 29-22 game at the half.

Biola closed the gap early in the second half, using a six-point run to close the gap to three on a long three-pointer in transition by Chelsea De Luca, making it, cutting the gap to 37-34.

Lewis-Clark State came right back after the timeout and hit a quick layup, then stretched the lead back to eight at 44-36 with 13:12 to go.

Biola was still in the game at 46-42 after a pair of free throws by French, but the Warriors got a big three-pointer from Madison Mendezona at the 10:24 mark to go up 49-42, then Alyssa Fierro hit a runner just 30 seconds later to stretch it back up to nine at 51-42.

Neither team would score over the next three-plus minutes until Conicelli made one of two free throws with 5:46 to play to cut the lead back to eight. French would add another free throw 20 seconds later to make it a seven-point deficit.

But the Warriors made one final run to pull away after that, using a 6-0 run to take their largest lead of the game at 57-44 with 3:05 to go.

Biola made one final run in the closing minutes as Barclay hit a jumper followed on the next possession by a Reece three-pointer to close within seven. However, Lewis-Clark state hit free throws down the stretch to hold on.

"When we got it down to three, I thought we were starting to get things going," said Crawford. "But we missed shots and threw it away on the next three possessions. We just couldn't get over the hump."

Barclay led the Eagles with 12 points--10 of which came in the first half--and added 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season. Reece added 10 points while French contributed nine. Conicelli, who finally fouled out with four minutes to go, scored just five points but had 10 rebounds.

Reiter scored 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting to lead the Warriors while Jasmine Storh added 11 points.

While it is over, Biola had a fantastic season, winning 20 games and reaching the NAIA tournament for the second-straight season. It was the first time Biola had reached the tournament in back-to-back seasons and the first time in 20 years the Eagles had two-straight 20-win seasons.

Biola also finished with a 14-6 conference record, its best GSAC record since joining the conference in 1994-95.

"We are disappointed with the loss, but we are just happy to be here," said Crawford. "The tournament is such an honor to be at. We have a lot of reasons to celebrate and we are just proud of all that we have accomplished this season."