LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Biola Women's Basketball out-scored the visiting Point Loma Sea Lions by two in the second, five in the third and five in the fourth, but it was not quite enough to overcome PLNU's monster first quarter as the Sea Lions walked out of Chase Gym with a 94-91 win in an incredible game to watch.
For Biola, the trending upward of the last three quarters is a positive sign as they head into next week and another tough PacWest Conference matchup. The confidence this Eagles' side exuded throughout the second half is something fresh and enticing as we work our way towards the halfway point of this season.
The Eagles' comeback effort was spearheaded by senior standout and steadying force Jazz Benn. Benn went for a career-high 30 points with 16 of those coming in the fourth quarter as she did all she could to resurrect the Eagles' chance at a win. In the second half she was 8-for-10 from the floor with 20 points.Â
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"I saw the score at the end and we only had a couple points left," said Benn. "I didn't really care about how many points I had, I just wanted to help my team out."
She helped lead the Eagles to a 34-point fourth quarter that earned them a chance to shoot for a tie as the buzzer expired. They got a clean shot off on the run but it clanked off the iron and sent the visitors home smiling.
Biola was down by as much as 19 in the second half (56-37), but they ended the third quarter on a 20-9 run to cut it to just a 65-57 deficit headed into the explosive final period.
Those last 10 minutes were the best basketball played inside of Chase Gym yet in this 2021 season as Biola shot 62 percent overall and an astounding 6-for-7 from deep to give the Sea Lions all they could handle. The Eagles scored 30 of the first 51 points in the quarter and stole back the lead with just over a minute left as yesterday's star Jordan Rabe hit a free throw.
Biola went up 87-86 with 1:35 on the clock, but these two teams were far from done. PLNU took the lead back immediately as a Madison Corder layup dropped on their next possession. Then, Stephanie Lee hit one free throw and PLNU's Alix Henderson hit a pair to keep Point Loma out in front 90-88 with :33 seconds left.
After a timeout, Madi Chang hit from deep to send the Biola bench into a frenzy and force the PLNU coaches to take some time to talk things over. Lee set up the Chang bucket with her seventh assist of the afternoon. She would end the game with 15 points, five rebounds and those seven dimes (more than double her best mark of the season).
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Loma came out of the timeout and used up a bit of clock before once again the lanky Corder made a layup to put them back out in front at 92-91.
The Eagles had a really good look at the lead as Aysia Johnson cut under the bucket for a reverse layup, but the friendly bounce went in favor of the Sea Lions who took possession and would convert on both free throws on the other end to seal the deal.
Benn would end this game going 11-for-19 from the floor with a season-high five triples. Her 30 points added to eight rebounds, four assists, a pair of steals and a block as she posted her best game of the season in a valiant effort.Â
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"My coach encouraged me to take the open shot and get to the rim and that's exactly what I did," said Benn. She had averaged nine field goal attempts per game coming into this one and shot the ball 19 times tonight. That's the most attempts she's had in one game in her Biola career. Her previous career-high was 17, last coming in the Eagles' 2020 PacWest Tournament semifinal game against Hawaii Pacific.
Johnson (14) and Lee (15) joined Benn in double figures, while Rabe had another solid night with nine rebounds and eight points in 19 minutes. Biola was out-rebounded by 12 with PLNU scoring 17 second-chance points, compared to just five of those from BU.
But, the team will be encouraged by a strong showing against a quality side and should be poised to try again at victory next week against Concordia Irvine. Biola falls to 1-4 (0-4 PacWest) with the loss, while the Sea Lions improve to 4-1 (3-1 PacWest) with the win.
"We came back strong and now our confidence is really high," said Benn. "We have a really young team and this is good experience for them. We're going to get back stronger next game."
Biola plays at Concordia Irvine (4-2, 3-1 PacWest) on Friday next week before hosting the green and gold Eagles Saturday at 2 p.m. The Friday contest can be viewed live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/cui/.
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