LA MIRADA, Calif. --- On Tuesday evening, the women's basketball team took Cal State LA all the way to the wire at Chase Gymnasium. Unfortunately, BU's final game-tying shot attempt fell short at the buzzer to hand the Eagles a 61-60 loss at home.
The Eagles battled evenly throughout the night against CSULA, as the game had six lead changes and six ties. This is the second time these two teams have played one another this season with the first time at the Golden Eagles' home court. Biola took the win in overtime by a score of 81-74 on November 12.
Cal State LA came hungry as they were not wanting another loss in its books. The visiting team started hot in the first quarter, utilizing an 11-6 run to build an 11-point lead after 10 minutes of action.
The defensive excellence came alive in the second quarter for BU. Biola refused to allow their opponent to score for six minutes, helping BU close the gap and take the lead by one at 2:27 left in the half. Following the strong Biola run, Cal State LA found its footing and ended the half up, 29-22.
Amiah Simmons the freshman was the leading scorer for the Eagles tonight as she put up 22 of the 60 points scored in tonight's game.
BU trailed by as many as nine points in the beginning of the third quarter but was able to rally at the end of the frame. Thanks to a 7-0 run, the Eagles were only behind by four points going into the fourth quarter.
The core five of Aysia Johnson, Stephanie Lee, Laila Walker, Natasa Radovic, and Simmons were all active on offense, dishing out two assists each.
Biola didn't let up off the throttle out of the start of the last quarter, as they scored four to tie up the game. A layup made by Simmions made the score 47-47 with 6:48 left on the clock. BU's bench and their fans were loud bringing lots of energy throughout the game to help them stay in the game. Biola got into an offensive rhythm from that point, creating their biggest lead of the game 56-50.
Down by six, the Golden Eagles needed to make a run with two minutes left in the contest. A triple and an and-one quickly knotted the match at 56 with 1:27 on the clock.
With the game on the line both teams looked to sneak out with the victory. BU struck first with a layup to go up by two. CSULA responded with a fastbreak layup and a free throw to recapture the lead at 59-58.
In search of a game-winner, Simmons blew by the defense for a driving left-handed layup. Unfortunately, the Eagles left too much time on the clock. CSULA tacked on two more points two seconds before the final buzzer. The hosting Eagles drew up one final play to beat the buzzer but came up short for the 61-60 final score in favor of the visitors.
"We gave it our all tonight," said Simmons. "We knew that Cal State LA was going to come out hungry so we were ready for that but we just didn't pull it out tonight ." The freshman guard continued to be a scoring machine for the Eagles, tallying her third 20 point performance of the season.
Biola found success inside the paint against Cal State LA on Tuesday evening, as the Eagles outscored their opponent 32-24 in points in the paint. From the free throw line, BU went 14-16 to convert at an 87.5 percent rate.
The Eagles are back in action for another home match on Saturday, as they look toward La Sierra at 7p.m. at Chase Gymnasium. For live stats links and updates check athletics.biola.edu.
