Box Score LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola got off to its worst start of the season, shooting below 15 percent through the first 15 minutes of play, and, even with the help of a hot shooting performance by Annie Park, could not overcome the deficit set in a 76-64 loss to South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
 
The loss is the Eagles' second in a row and drops them to 10-5 on the season, while the NCAA Division II Hardrockers improved to 6-9.
 
"We got strong play tonight from Annie Park and Elizabeth Munger," said Head Coach Dr. Bethany Miller. "We need to continue to work on our consistency as a team on offense."
 
Aside from Chelsea Hill's near-superhuman ability to make free throws, Biola's offense early on consisted only of Park's made three-point shots. The junior guard made four from deep in the first half in order to keep the Eagles at least within 10 points after 20 minutes.
 
Biola shot just 23.3 percent in the first half, while the Hardrockers fired away from all over the court and finished the frame at nearly 60 percent shooting. SD School of Mines found itself in foul trouble in the first frame, allowing Biola to make 12-of-20 free-throw attempts to account for the other half of its first-half point output. The Hardrockers also coughed the ball up six times in the half, compared to just two by the Eagles.
 
SD School of Mines spread the ball around in the first half, finding plenty of open shots in transition, resulting in four players with six or more points. In contrast, only two Biola players had more than three points in that half.
 
Biola opened half two on an 11-2 run to close the gap tot just one, 42-41, by the 17-minute mark. Strong rebounding by Hill and Munger and improved shooting helped Biola get as close as it would get to overcoming the Hardrockers' lead.
 
The Eagles continued to fall victim to strong and streaky outside shooting by SD School of Mines, making it so the difference on the scoreboard fluctuated between three and nine points for the remainder of the second half until, fittingly, a Kahlie Pererson three-pointer, one of her three on the night, pushed the lead to 12.
 
"Tonight, ball control stats looked really good and we worked really hard on the boards, but we got beat 30-to-10 in the paint," said Miller.
 
All four of the Hardrockers leading scorers were listed as forwards, with the trio combining for 60 of their 76 points. SD School of Mines got 30 of those points in the paint and 36 bench points, combining for 47 more such points than the Eagles recorded.
 
Biola was outrebounded, outshot and outdefended in a game where the only true bright spots were the 24 points for Park, Hill and Munger's rebounding and Hills 12-for-14 free throw performance.
 
"We just didn't capitalize as much as we needed too, and we just need to shoot better in order to win games," said Miller.
 
The Eagles are back in action tomorrow at 3:30 p.m., hosting Evangel (3-6), who is fresh off a close loss to No. 3 Vanguard.