Box Score FULLERTON, Calif. --- What began nearly five months ago inside of Chase Gymnasium came to a close on Friday night in Fullerton as Biola Women's Basketball bowed out of the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament with a 63-50 loss to Hope International.
 
"I am thankful for the coachable, team-first spirit of this team," said Head Coach Alan Nakamura. "From the start of the year Aubree, Tina, and Taylor set an atmosphere of inclusion, and the team came together really quickly. It has been a pleasure working with this team, and I believe we are headed in the right direction."
 
The Eagles competed well with the Royals through the first quarter before Hope International worked its way all the way up to as much as a 17-point lead over the next two periods of play.
 
It was an exciting fourth quarter though as the Eagles utilized a 13-6 start to the final period to pull the game within four points with just over two and a half minutes left in the game.
 
Seven of those 13 points came from the Eagles' tandem of bigs inside, including a stretch of five consecutive points from Taylor Casey. Casey scored half of her point total during that stretch in the fourth quarter as she showed strong senior leadership down the stretch.
 
Unfortunately, the final two minutes and 33 seconds favored the home team as Hope International scored the final nine points of the game shutting the Eagles out down the stretch.
 
The Royals went 6-of-8 from the free throw line and got a clutch three-point make from Nikki Andaya to close out the win and earn the berth in tomorrow's GSAC Tournament semifinals against No. 1 seed Westmont.
 
"Hope did a good job playing their game, and they shot the ball well," said Nakamura. "Things looked bleak when we were down by 17 late in the third, but I knew our team wouldn't go down without a fight. But they got a couple of key stops and made clutch shots and unfortunately we didn't - we just couldn't get over the hump."
 
Biola had three student-athletes reach double-digit scoring. All three got past the 10-point mark courtesy their scoring in the final period. DeMoria White led the way with 12 points, Danielle Kennedy added 11 and Casey had 10.
 
The Eagles had trouble making shots with consistency throughout the night. The team shot just 30 percent, including 21 percent from beyond the arc.
 
Outside shooting played a large role in Friday's outcome as the Eagles took 19 shots from distance and HIU threw up 23 shots from distance. The Royals also had three players reach double-digits, including the game's leading scorer, Marissa Rendon.
 
Tonight marks the final games in Eagles uniform during the careers of Taylor Casey, Aubree Mittel and Tina Esbenshade. Biola Women's Basketball will retain a great core of young players heading into the 2016-17 season after the 2015-16 year came to a close with a 14-17 overall record.