LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Don't look now, but only a few things need to happen this week for Biola Women's Basketball to find itself in second place in the PacWest standings by the end of Saturday night. After Concordia's lost to first-place Hawaii Pacific on Monday, Head Coach Alan Nakamura's group find themselves a half-game out of second, a coveted spot headed into the PacWest tournament as the top-two teams get a bye for the first round of the tournament.

Wins against Point Loma and Azusa Pacific would vault Biola over both teams headed into the final three weeks of the year and would go a long way toward exacting some measured revenge for two of the Eagles' road losses they'd like to have back. Biola led for almost 30 minutes at Point Loma in their first meeting and built up to an 11-point lead in the second quarter while the Eagles held the Sea Lions to 30 percent shooting in the first half. Nakamura's group will look to prove how good it is at closing games since losing that 68-63 contest because they lost the lead in the fourth. And they'll certainly want to show the No. 16 ranked Cougars that the game on January 18 was just a fluke. 

In order to accomplish all that, the Eagles will need continued production from the likes of Aysia Johnson, Stephanie Lee, Jazz Benn and Mikayla Greens. Johnson is coming off a PacWest Defender of the Week award for her efforts last week: the Indio, California-native pulled down 15 rebounds and recorded five steals and three blocks while scoring in double figures against Notre Dame de Namur and Dominican. Johnson played over 30 minutes in each game as the Eagles limited its two opponents to an average of 45.5 points in the two games.

Lee has scored in double figures in three-straight games and has led the Eagles in points during two of those contests. Benn is coming off a great game against Dominican with 11 points, seven boards and five steals in 37 minutes. And Greens has played a strong supporting role in both wins last week with eight fourth-quarter points against NDNU and a good defensive check of the nation's leading scorer in a start against Dominican on Saturday. 

MULTIMEDIA: Live video and live stats will be provided free of charge for all Biola home contests. See links and cost for road contests in the previews below.

TICKETS: Biola home events are always free to Biola students, staff, faculty and alumni. Children 12 and under are also always free. General admission is $6 and discounted tickets for opposing school students, guests under 18 and seniors are $4. See ticketing information for road contests below each preview below.

THIS WEEK: vs Point Loma (12-6, 8-4 PacWest) - Wednesday January 29 at 5:30 p.m.; vs No. 16 Azusa Pacific (15-3, 9-3 PacWest) - Saturday February 1 at 5:30 p.m. 

MULTIMEDIA: Live video and live statistics will be available for all games. See the links below for the direct link for each game. Biola offers free live video of all home events at portal.stretchinternet.com/biola.


BIOLA (11-6, 7-4 PacWest) vs Point Loma (12-6, 8-4 PacWest) on Wednesday January 29 at 5:30 p.m.\\ Live Stats \\ Live Video
Biola carries a seven-game home winning streak and a 4-0 record in rematches into its second meeting with the Sea Lions, who had four members of their starting five score in double digits in the 68-63 win over the Eagles. Point Loma needed to outscore Biola by six points in the fourth quarter to come up with the close win but PLNU has been a bit up and down since then. The Sea Lions are 3-4 since the start of the new calendar year despite scoring over 75 points per game. Onjalise Carley-Hilliard and Cara Liggins have carried the lion's share of the scoring responsibilities over that span, as both women are averaging over 15 points per game. But the Sea Lions' use of Carley-Hilliard has been peculiar, with the post player playing 15 minutes or fewer in three of the past five games. And PLNU has been without regular starter Sydney Peterson since January 6 at Hawaii Pacific. 

Point Loma is 1-3 over its last four road games and has been outscored in the second half of three of its last four games overall. 

BIOLA (11-6, 7-4 PacWest) vs No. 16 Azusa Pacific (15-3, 9-3 PacWest) on Saturday February 1 at 5:30 p.m. \\ Live Stats \\ Live Video \\ PROMOTION: WEAR RED. FREE SANDWICHES courtesy JERSEY MIKE'S LA HABRA and Biola SGA, Other Biola Giveaways
TICKETING INFO: Biola students, staff, faculty and alumni are FREE. Students can get tickets (wristbands) from in front of the cafeteria at lunchtime throughout the week. Staff/Faculty can pick up tickets from HR. Alumni Relations will hand out tickets on-site the night of.

In contrast to the Sea Lions, Azusa Pacific has been on a tear since the start of 2020 and will come to Chase Gym on a six-game winning streak. The Cougars are outscoring teams by about 25 points over the past four weeks and the biggest difference has been seen in the first quarter, where APU has held opponents to an average of nine points allowed in the first quarter during its winning streak. Biola already knew that it needs to come out with a strong start against the Cougars since it made just one field goal in the first meeting at APU. But having a good scoring effort right from the tip may force the Cougars to play catchup and push them off balance. Azusa Pacific has three women who are averaging over 10 points per game over the past few weeks. Savanna Hanson leads that effort with an average of 15 points and 8.3 points per game. Molly Whitmore has been a spark off the bench with 11.8 points per game. And Laura Pranger has been a force around the key with an average of four blocks a contest to go with eight boards and 10.6 points. 

NOTE: Campus Safety encourages all attendees to not bring a bag with them on this night. All bags will be subject to search.

UPCOMING & REACHED MILESTONES:
Jelissa Puckett - 50 games played (43)
Jelissa Puckett - 75 field goals made (70)
Jelissa Puckett - 200 points (190)
Jelissa Puckett - 100 assists (91)
Jelissa Puckett - 150 rebounds (113)
Jelissa Puckett - 1,000 career minutes (885)
Kayla Macedo - 110 games played (103)
Kayla Macedo - 300 points (282)
Kayla Macedo - 50 steals (44)
Kayla Macedo - 150 rebounds (121)
Kayla Macedo - 1,250 career minutes (1057)
Danita Estorga - 50 games played (45)
Danita Estorga - 1,000 career minutes (966)
Danita Estorga - 150 field goals made (144)
Danita Estorga - 75 free throws made (68)
Danita Estorga - 50 three-pointers made (45)
Danita Estorga - 250 rebounds (241)
Danita Estorga - 50 assists (47)
Danita Estorga - 50 steals (46)
Danita Estorga - 400 points (396)
Tatum Brimley - 110 games played (103)
Tatum Brimley - 2,500 career minutes (2,340)
Tatum Brimley - 300 field goals made (281)
Tatum Brimley - 250 free throws made (215)
Tatum Brimley - 150 three-pointers made (107)
Tatum Brimley - 250 assists (225)
Tatum Brimley - 300 rebounds (279)
Tatum Brimley - 900 points (884)
Jazz Benn - 75 games played (73)
Jazz Benn - 300 field goals made (288)
Jazz Benn - 400 rebounds (369)
Jazz Benn - 150 assists (141)
Jazz Benn - 100 steals (92)
Jazz Benn - 150 three-pointers made (104)
Jazz Benn - 1,000 career points (781)
Jazz Benn - 2,500 career minutes (2,302)
Aysia Johnson - 50 games played (45)
Aysia Johnson - 750 career minutes (734)
Aysia Johnson - 150 rebounds (146)
Aysia Johnson - 75 assists (71)
Aysia Johnson - 50 steals (53)
Aysia Johnson - 200 points (212)
Mikayla Greens - 100 games played (99)
Mikayla Greens - 250 field goals made (209)
Mikayla Greens - 500 rebounds (494)
Mikayla Greens - 100 assists (96)
Mikayla Greens - 75 steals (65)
Mikayla Greens - 2,000 career minutes (1,867)