Box Score SANTA CLARITA, Calif. --- It was a heart-wrenching loss for Biola Women's Basketball as it hit the road for some Golden State Athletic Conference basketball against The Master's College.
 
The Eagles led throughout the entire game against a Mustangs team that came into the night with an undefeated conference mark, but a late run left Biola in a place where it was forced to throw up a buzzer-beater in a 55-57 loss.

"I am very proud of how the team competed," said Head Coach Alan Nakamura. "We played hard for 40 minutes against a talented and tough Master's team. The GSAC is full of challenges and we are growing into being a very competitive team."
 
Biola controlled the first quarter after starting hot and getting itself an early 9-2 lead. It would hold The Master's College to just 3-of-13 shooting through the first 10 minutes and take a 14-10 lead into the quarter break.
 
Turnovers were irksome in that first period as the Eagles coughed the ball up six times in the 10 minutes and were just fortunate that the Mustangs' shots were not falling. In contrast, Biola shot nearly 60 percent from the field throughout the frame.
 
The second quarter was following a similar script as the Eagles opened up a 10-point lead and seemed dominant through the first seven minutes or so of the new quarter.
 
Unfortunately the turnover bug continued to keep up with BU as the team climbed up to a total of 15 turnovers and allowed TMC to score the final nine points of the quarter and cut the Eagles' lead to just two at the halftime break (25-23). TMC scored 13 of their 23 first half points as a result of the Eagles' turnovers.
 
What kept Biola on top, just barely, was the continued poor shooting of The Master's. The Mustangs made just nine shots from the floor in the first half as it ended with a 28 percent field goal conversion rate.
 
Olivia Thompson was the only player on the home team's roster that was shooting anything near respectable as she ended the first half 3-of-6 with a team-high six points.
 
Taylor Casey led Biola's efforts in the first half with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, including two that came off a big layup through traffic and a foul.
 
A quick start to the third quarter helped the Mustangs flip the script and take a four-point lead at 31-27 four minutes into the quarter. They scored eight of the first nine points as they continued to ride their momentum of the previous period.
 
However, Biola would score the next nine to regain a commanding lead that sent the team smiling into the fourth quarter with a 45-38 advantage.
 
Bench players were key to the lead building in that quarter as Jessica Shill and Makayla Lancaster each contributed well with perfect field goal percentages and combined for 11 points through the first 30 minutes.
 
The Master's College outscored the Eagles 19-10 in the fourth quarter to end up walking away with its fourth GSAC win and improve to 12-2 overall.
 
The Mustangs scored 13 of the final 17 points of the game as it upped its field goal percentage to 40 percent and won the game with a Megan Lindsley layup with two seconds to play.
 
DeMoria White and Casey ended up as the leading scorers for the Eagles with 19 and 17 points, respectively. Casey had her best night of the season as she went 7-of-11 from the floor with eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

"Taylor did a great job of leading by word and example and Mori continues to be a rock for our team," said Nakamura. "And it was exciting to see Jessica, Makayla and Tina come off the bench and make big plays. This was a team effort, and that is the strength of our program."
 
It was a great leap forward for the Eagles as they proved they could be competitive against a top team in the conference, even on a night when they turned the ball over 22 times.
 
Biola falls to 9-9 (2-2 GSAC) with the loss. The Eagles are back in action on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in a road match at William Jessup.