Box Score
LA MIRADA, Calif. --- It took until the second half, but once Biola clicked, there was no looking back, as they win big, 85-59, over Hope International. The win, on the back of a 47-16 second half differential, keeps the Eagles undefeated in the Golden State Athletic Conference and sets up a titanic clash at No. 10 Concordia, who sits atop the GSAC standings, on Tuesday.
 
Behind Brittney Bauman's six made three-pointers, the Royals built a seven point lead at the end of the first half. For the first few minutes of the second, this lead, with some back-and-forth, held. At the 15:15 mark, Dani Kennedy drilled her third three of the game to cut the lead to three. Five minutes later, DeMoria White poked away the dribble of HIU's first-half hero, Bauman. Collecting the loose ball, White glided down for an easy layup that, all of the sudden, put Biola up eight. Five minutes after that, White turned the corner on her defender, slashed into the middle of the paint and curled a soft layup off the glass. The basket put Biola up 17.
 
Five minutes later, the game was finished, and the Eagles had just unleashed a 40-7 run over the final 15 minutes of play.
 
"We talked at halftime about some adjustments we needed to make about a couple of girls doing majority of their scoring," said Head Coach Dr. Bethany Miller. "I thought we really executed those well and even turned it a notch up offensively, which was really important for us."
 
Highlighting the run were two freshmen guards, Kennedy and White, that were pushed into action with Annie Park missing this game. The duo combined for 25 points and six assists, including two mixtape-level dimes from White who hung and bent in mid-air to sneak no-look passes between defenders to setup Elizabeth Munger and Taylor Casey, who led Biola in scoring with 18 points.
 
"Dani Kennedy and DeMoria White did an amazing job stepping into big roles and the big shoes that Annie Park left. [White] did just a great job executing well, pushing pace and playing defense," said Miller. "Dani was very consistent, shot well from three, and I think both freshmen showed what a talented and deep group of guards we have."
 
However, the Eagles' defense in the second half is the real star of the game, holding the Royals to just six made field goals and a 0-for-7 three-point performance. This came on the heels of a first half performance where Biola allowed 50 percent shooting and 6-of-9 shooting from deep.
 
"We made a couple adjustments, had some guard rotations and really, Khadidja Diakite did an excellent job stepping up, guarding [Bauman] well and trying to make her adjust her shot, said Miller. "We felt [Diakite] did a great job of that in the second half."
 
Offensively, the Eagles showed off a plethora of scoring options. They blitzed Hope International through utilizing multiple players, five would finish with double-digit scoring, and multiple avenues, 30 free throws earned, 22 offensive rebounds, 16 points off turnovers and 30 points in the paint.
 
"Hope International is such a great team that we knew we needed to do some things to mix it up a bit and use our offensive versatility, and our girls really executed that well," said Miller.
 
Biola hopes to carry their strong performance in the second half tonight over to next week and away from the friendly confines of Chase Gymnasium. They face huge tests in Tuesday's matchup with the GSAC leader on Tuesday and traveling on Saturday to the tean tied with Concordia at No. 10, Vanguard. The Eagles enter play next week with a 12-6 (4-0 GSAC) record.