Box Score RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- Through the first three games of the 2015-16 Biola Women's Basketball season three truly has been the magic number for the Eagles who have become used to lighting teams up from deep, including a 28-21 win over the men's team in a three-point shootout at this weekend's Midnight Madness.
 
In Tuesday night's 66-36 win over La Sierra that component of the Eagles' game was missing throughout the first half, which left Head Coach Alan Nakamura in a spot where he had to improvise on offense and look to other sources.
 
"Tonight we had a great team effort," said Nakamura. "We weren't hitting the shots that we usually make early in the game, so it was nice we had something else to go to in our defense and interior scoring."
 
Inside scoring and defense were the keys to Biola's ability to get through the first two quarters with the 27-14 lead it held over the Golden Eagles. It was not looking like that large of an advantage was possible after only escaping with an 8-6 lead in the first quarter.
 
Taylor Casey, Sara Dougan and Emma Newman continued the consistent play they've displayed throughout the early part of this season as they ended with a combined 17 points on 8-for-20 shooting.
 
Casey and Dougan's work on the offensive boards early on helped Biola begin to distance itself from the home team even after all the misses from deep. Newman added four steals and five defensive boards in a lockdown performance.
 
Defensively the Eagles were in top form as they kept the Golden Eagles even more at bay than they were when Biola had another runaway win over them just three days ago. BU held La Sierra to single-digit scoring in three of the four quarters and forced 32 turnovers from this LSU team.
 
"La Sierra came out fired up and well prepared, but our defense kept us in the game durng this first half," said Nakamura. "It was really nice to see the team applying what we really focused on in practice into the game situation."
 
The second set of quarters saw the Eagles' shooters begin to get back into shape. Biola shot just 27 percent from the floor and 21 percent from deep in the first half, and then it shot up to 53 percent and 55 percent in the second half resulting in 39 points over the final 20 minutes.
 
Danielle Kennedy and Aubree Mittel were the Eagles' best options from deep. Kennedy was 4-for-8 from beyond the arc and had a team-high 12 points, while Mittel ended 3-for-10 from distance and finished with nine points. Mittel was also the team's leading rebounder with nine boards.
 
"In the second half we played with a little more energy and enthusiasm and played with a little more poise," said Nakamura. "In the long run I think the team effort, consistency and poise we played with is what allowed us to pull away at the end."
 
The win pushes Biola to 3-1 on the year and drops the Golden Eagles to 0-3. It's a quick turnaround for the Eagles as they host Pomona-Pitzer in an exhibition tomorrow night at 5:30 p.m.