--- Biola Athletics' Top-20 for 19-20 countdown continues Wednesday with the third quarterfinal matchup. Today is a battle between a pair of PacWest postseason achievements. The choice comes between men's cross country winning its back-to-back PacWest title and Biola Women's Basketball picking up Biola's first-ever PacWest tournament win.
Read the descriptions below and then place your votes on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook (@biolaathletics).Â
Playoffs!:Â
Women's Basketball gave Biola a thrilling introduction to PacWest basketball postseason play with their first round game against Point Loma on March 5. Entering the game with identical 14-8 conference records, the memory of two close regular season meetings prompted both teams to prepare for a battle. This quarterfinal contest packed in just about everything you could want from a playoff basketball game, because of how well both teams played. For its part, Biola Women's Basketball was shooting the lights out from beyond the arc in the first half, because they knew how important the three-ball was in the Eagles' victory over Point Loma in January; 11 of the 12 field goals Biola made in the first half came from three-point range and Head CoachÂ
Alan Nakamura's group would finish the game tying their season-high with 17. After going into halftime tied at 40, Biola built as much as a five-point lead at the start of the third quarter thanks to back-to-back threes fromÂ
Aysia Johnson. But Point Loma quickly took the lead back and put the Eagles in desperation mode late in the fourth quarter, down eight with four minutes left. Biola responded with an 11-3 run over the next three minutes. The Eagles tied the game on an and-one from Johnson and then recorded two big stops on the next two Point Loma possessions to hold the ball with 35 seconds left. That set the stage for the seniorÂ
Tatum Brimley to drive to the key and drop in a layup that beat the shot clock and gave the Eagles the margin they needed to win their first PacWest Tournament game.Â
Champions:Â
What's better than winning a team and individual conference championship in the same year? How about doing it again the next year? That's exactly whatÂ
Gabe Plendcio and Biola Men's Cross Country did in October, as Plendcio finished first in the PacWest championship race and Biola ran away with a conference title for the second year in a row. Running at the team's home course at Ted Craig Park in Fullerton, the Eagles swept all three spots on the individual podium withÂ
Brady DeHaven andÂ
Ryan Thompson following Plendcio's winning time of 25:09.71. And the Eagles created massive distance between themselves and second-place Notre Dame de Namur thanks to great efforts fromÂ
Angel Escobar,Â
Ryan St. Pierre,Â
Gio Orellana andÂ
Jared Donnel, all of whom finished in the top-20 and helped Biola to a miniscule point total of 21.
First Round Results:
Jen's Big Day (48%) vs.
Larson's Big Day (52%)
Jamir Seals It (56%) vs. Down Goes APU (44%) -
MOST VOTES IN 1ST ROUND (898)
60 Minutes Win It (40%) vs.
A Run To Remember (60%)
Stunning Start (42%) vs.
Record Breaker (58%)
Second Round Results:
Mike's Moment (51%) vs. Larson's Big Day (49%)
Perfect Paige (45%) vs.
Hello, Ben! (55%)
Jamir Seals It (73%) vs. We Made It (27%)
Got 'Em! (42%) vs.
What A Capper! (58%)
A Run To Remember (41%) vs.
Playoffs! (59%)
Finish Strong (41%) vs.
What A Year! (59%)
Champions! (74%) vs. Up The Leaderboard (26%)
Postseason Poise (69%)Â vs. Record Breaker (31%)
Third Round Results:
Mike's Moment (49%) vs.
Hello, Ben! (51%)
Jamir Seals It (67%) vs. What A Year (33%)
See the schedule below and be sure to follow us on all three platforms to give your top moments the best chance of advancing.Â
Monday, May 11 - Second Round begins
Wednesday, May 20 - Second Round ends
Thursday, May 21 - Elite Eight matchups announced
Monday, May 25 - Elite Eight begins
Thursday, May 28 - Elite Eight ends
Friday, May 29 - Final Four matchups announced
Monday, June 1 - Final Four begins
Wednesday, June 3 - Championship matchup
Thursday, June 4 - Winner announced