LA MIRADA --- Biola (5-2, 1-0 PacWest) started off conference strong, beating Fresno Pacific (3-3, 0-1 PacWest) in the first PacWest Conference competition on Thursday evening at Chase Gymnasium.
Freshman Amiah Simmons took over in the fourth quarter for the Biola women's basketball team, as the freshman scored 13 points in the final 10 minutes of play. An 11-point swing in the fourth quarter helped the Eagles collect a 58-48 come-from-behind victory over the Sunbirds.
Simmons continued her excellent run in the 2021-22 campaign with a 22-point effort on Thursday. The young star credits her success to, "reading the defense, knowing my strengths and doing exactly what I need to do to help the team," said Simmons.
Biola and Fresno Pacific played very evenly throughout the game with four lead changes and two ties. BU did its job getting on the board first and taking a lead thanks to three-pointers from Simmons and Stephanie Lee. The 8-4 BU advantage would not last though, as the FPU offense found success from long range to finish off the first quarter with a 17-16 lead.
Defense dominated the second frame, as neither team tallied 10 points. Both teams struggled from the floor with the visitors shooting 18.2 percent and the Eagles shooting 5.6 percent.
Following the halftime break, the Eagles looked to bounce back from their 26-21 deficit. The defense continued to play well, holding FPU scoreless for five minutes to help BU open up its first lead since the opening minutes of the contest.
The Eagles came out on fire in the fourth quarter, as they maintained their momentum with a 7-0 run to open up a 41-35 lead with seven minutes remaining in the game.
Fresno Pacific battled back and brought the score to within three at 48-45 with two minutes on the clock. Laila Walker responded and knocked down a three-pointer to disrupt the FPU comeback effort. The Eagles would sink its final six free throws on the night, capping off the 58-48 final score.
Simmons sparked the offense with 22 points on Thursday. The freshman was 3-4 from the foul line and added one assist for a total of 13 on the season. Jordan Rabe followed right behind Simmons on the leaderboard with eight points.
"The win feels great," said Rabe. " Fresno is scrappy and aggressive, that means we had to dig deep, be gritty and compete. We're just getting started," commented the redshirt sophomore.
The Eagles finished with nine steals on the evening. Natasa Radovic was relentless in her pursuit of the ball, grabbing two steals and leading the team with nine rebounds.
Biola will turn its eyes towards Holy Names (0-8, 0-1 PacWest) for its next matchup on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Chase Gymnasium. For live stats links and updates check
athletics.biola.edu.
