LA MIRADA, Calif. --- No. 7 Biola saw a late 12-point lead disappear in the waning minutes, but still managed to hold on for a 69-61 GSAC victory over Hope International University on Tuesday night at Chase Gymnasium.

The Eagles, ranked No. 7 in the latest NAIA National Poll released on Monday, improve to 15-3 on the season with the victory and stay just one game out of first place in the conference with a 7-2 mark. The Royals fall to 10-9 on the season and to 2-7 in GSAC play.

Senior forward Jessilyn Conicelli scored a game-high 21 points and added 18 rebounds, five assists and two steals. It was the fourth-straight game and fifth time in the last six games the senior scored at least 20 points. She is averaging 23.3 points per game over that stretch.

Hope managed a frantic rally, turning what had been a relatively easy victory into a close battle at the end. The Royals trailed by double-digits through the entire second half, falling behind by 16 five minutes into the period and still training by 12 at 65-53 with 5:01 to play.

The Eagles went silent from there, however, allowing Hope to get back into the contest late. The Royals would use an eight-point run over the next 3:15 to cut the lead to just four--the closest they had been since early in the first half. With one minute left and the Royals still down 65-61, the visitors had a chance to cut further in, but Champ Hood would miss a layup in the lane.

Biola still had trouble putting Hope away despite securing the rebound as Charrise Reece missed the front-end of a one-and-one. But her high school teammate Christina Barclay was there to help her out, securing the rebound and putting back off the glass. Hope was unable to get anything else from that point with Jennifer French providing the final margin with free throws late.

After a bit of a slow start, Biola seemed ready to cruise, using a long 17-3 run to turn a 12-12 tie into a 29-15 lead with 8:50 left in the half. The Eagles stretched the lead to as many as 19 on a three-point play by Barclay with 1:49 to go and took a 40-26 lead to the half.

Biola hit 45.9 percent (17-of-37) from the field in the opening 20 minutes while limiting the Royals to just 27.3 percent shooting. The Eagles would hit just 32 percent in the second half, but managed just enough to hold on. 

French had a solid evening, scoring 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting including three from beyond the arc. Barclay poured in 11 points and added six rebounds and four assists in 24 minutes.

Hood led the Royals with 18 points and pulled down six rebounds. Lauren Salazar contributed 13 points while Kasey Philyaw added 11 for Hope.

Biola closes out the first half of GSAC play on Thursday, traveling to San Diego to face Point Loma Nazarene at 5:30 p.m. When the second half resumes next week, the Eagles open with a brutal schedule, playing four-straight games against Top 25 teams. The big matchup comes against No. 6 California Baptist University on Saturday (Jan. 29) at 5:30 p.m. in Chase Gymnasium.