LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Playing without its starting center, No. 8 Biola was not able to put up much of a fight against No. 5 Azusa Pacific University, falling 70-50 in a GSAC battle at Chase Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

The Eagles suffered their second-straight loss to a fellow Top 10 team and drop to 17-5, 9-4 in GSAC play. The Cougars improve to 19-4 and 11-2 in conference with their seventh-straight victory.

Biola was without the services of senior center Christina Barclay, who suffered an injury on Tuesday afternoon. Barclay, who was averaging 8.8 points per game and ranked in the top 10 in the NAIA in blocked shots, was sorely missed.

Azusa Pacific came out firing in the first half, jumping out to a 24-9 lead over the first 10 minutes of the contest. The Cougars continued to roll over the remaining 10 minutes and took a 35-15 lead to the locker room.

Biola wound up hitting just 5-of-27 (18.5 percent) in the first half, netting a season-low 15 points in a half. 

In the second half, Azusa came out strong again, quickly stretching its lead up to 27 just under three minutes into the period. Biola was unable to get any closer than 16 the rest of the way.

Senior forward Jessilyn Conicelli paced the Eagles with 19 points and 10 rebounds, but no other Biola player was able to score more than nine points. 

Biola managed to finish the contest with a 32.2 percent shooting night, though its was the team's third-lowest shooting night of the season. 

Michelle Byrd recorded a double-double for the Cougars with a 12-point, 10-rebound effort while Alex Moore-Porter scored 15 to lead APU.

Biola closes out a tough stretch of games on Saturday, traveling to Costa Mesa to face No. 13 Vanguard University in a battle between teams currently tied for third in the conference standings. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.