LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola used a big second-half push and a late 13-point run to avoid the upset on Tuesday night, beating Fresno Pacific 65-50 behind a 25-point night by senior forward Jessilyn Conicelli in a GSAC contest at Chase Gymnasium.

The Eagles improve to 13-3 on the season and stay within one game of first-place California Baptist in the conference standings with a 5-2 mark. The loss drops the Sunbirds to 7-10 and to 0-7 in the GSAC.

Conicelli, who was one of the only Biola players to do much in the first half, finished with 25 points. She had 14 of the team's 25 at halftime and added 11 in the second half. Senior forward Jennifer French added 17 points and 10 rebounds with 10 of those points coming in the final 20 minutes of the game.

The Eagles shot just 34.5 percent in the first half, turning the ball over eight times and committing 12 fouls. Four players had two fouls including center Christina Barclay who picked up two quick fouls in as many minutes. Biola also had just three players score in the opening period.

The game got off to a quick start with the Eagles opening a 10-4 lead just over five minutes in. The Sunbirds slowly closed the gap and and tied the game at 15-15 with 6:45 to go as the Eagles went quiet. Fresno Pacific took its first lead of the contest a few minutes later as Jessica Torrecillas scored two of her team-high 21 points to put the Sunbirds up 19-17. Biola did manage to hold a slim 25-23 lead at the half after a missed layup by Fresno as time expired.

In the second period, Fresno opened up its largest lead of the game by hitting back-to-back threes to go on top 29-26 two minutes in. But the Eagles countered with a 10-0 run, capped by a three-pointer by French to give them a 36-29 lead. 

The Sunbirds narrowed the gap to five and still trailed by just six at 50-44 with 7:14 to play. But Biola turned it on late, using a 13-0 run over the next 3:30 to take a commanding 63-44 lead and cruised from there.

Biola did a great job of taking care of the ball, committing just 13 turnovers including five in the second half. The defense stepped up and forced 23 by the Sunbirds, converting those into 20 points. Fresno was only able to get three points off the Eagles' turnovers. 

Without Barclay in the low post, Fresno was solid inside in the first half, out-rebounding Biola 19-12. However, the Eagles came back to out-rebound the Sunbirds 28-19 in the second with French leading the way with eight followed by Lauren Gustafson recording four.

Torrecillas led the Sunbirds with 21 points, adding eight rebounds on 9-of-13 shots from the field in the contest. She was the only Fresno player to score more than eight points.

Biola hits the road for its next game, traveling to Irvine for a GSAC game at Concordia. The contest, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, has been moved to Friday to accommodate the funeral on Saturday for one of Concordia's women's basketball players, who was killed in an auto accident early Sunday morning. The game will tip off at 5:30 p.m.