OAKLAND, Calif. --- The Eagles started their three-game Northern California road trip on the right foot Thursday with a commanding 67-48 win over Holy Names University.
Biola tied its season-high with 11 three-pointers, getting nine of those makes from the tandem of DeMoria White and Jazz Benn, and made a team effort in the paint to collect 38 rebounds and 26 points in the key.
Every Eagles collected at least two rebounds in the win while nine players finished with three or more.
"Holy Names played scrappy today but we really played as a team," said Head Coach Alan Nakamura. "We did a nice job on defensive and we moved without the ball and found each other for good looks on offense."
Biola set the tone early with a strong effort at the defensive end of the floor that limited Holy Names to two field goals on 16 attempts in the first quarter. Benn provided the opening spark with the game's first seven points before White found her shooting touch from beyond the arc to the tune of nine points.
After taking a 26-16 lead out of the first 10 minutes of play, Biola stood its ground while the Hawks played their best quarter of the game. Holy Names brought the game within three points at the 3:21 mark in the quarter only for the Eagles to snap right back with an 8-0 run to make it a double-digit game again.
When all the dust settled, the teams finished with the same number of field goals in the second period and Biola took a nine-point lead into halftime thanks to a clutch three from Jessica Shill with four seconds left.
The Eagles stayed steady at the offensive end of the floor in the second half by shooting 46 percent from the field.
Tatum Brimley and
Sara Dougan led all scorers in the second half with eight points each and went a combined 7-of-9 from the field. Dougan scored 12 of her season-high 14 from the painted area.
The win gets the Eagles within one game of .500. (8-9, 5-6 PacWest) while dropping Holy Names to 3-17, 2-10 PacWest.
"This is an important road trip for us and we are off to a good start," said Nakamura. "We need to play our best basketball of the year right now and we are seeing a lot of good signs that are pointing in that direction."
Biola continues the three-game swing with a trip to Belmont, California on Saturday. The Eagles play Notre Dame De Namur (9-10, 6-5 PacWest) at 1:00 p.m.
