Biola offense erupts in win over Bethesda
Biola’s Eleni Cabrera (24) makes a three-point shot as they play Bethesda University in their non-league game at Biola University on Tuesday. Biola defeated Bethesda 92-51. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
LA MIRADA – The Biola University women’s basketball team took a break from PacWest Conference action Tuesday (January 10), hosting Bethesda University of Anaheim and had its largest scoring output since joining NCAA DII, defeating the Flames, 97-51.
In addition,12 Eagles players scored, leading Biola to its fourth win in a row and seven in the last nine games.
“This was a great opportunity (Tuesday) to try to get off to a good start and get contributions from the whole team,” Biola Women’s Basketball coach Alan Nakamura said. “The players that don’t play as much work so hard and it’s great to give them an opportunity to get out there and compete.
Biola (7-8, 6-2), which is in fourth place in conference just a couple of games out of first place, jumps back into PacWest play with its annual three-game swing to the Hawaiian Islands beginning this Saturday, (January 14).
The first of the three games lead off with Hawai’i Pacific, which looms as the biggest one, as the Sharks (5-2) are right behind Biola in the standings.
“Hawai’i Pacific is very good,” said Nakamura, of the upcoming game. “We’re going to have our hands full playing a power post and a good athletic team. We’re going to have to have our “A” game together. The way our team is playing with a lot of energy and competitiveness with the defense-first attitude, we’re going to give them a good challenge.”
In the game against Bethesda, leading the way for the Eagles was redshirt sophomore Eleni Cabrera (5-9 FGM-A) with a team-high 15 points, which included five 3-pointers.
“The team trusts in me to hit big shots and if they trust in me, I got to trust in myself to hit them,” Cabrera said. “We have some big games coming up and just continuing to stay on that hot streak and hoping my teammates find me to hit those big open shots and win those next three games in Hawaii.”
Cabrera is second on the team with 3-pointers made with 30. Leading the team in that category is Laila Walker with 37.
“It was great to see Eleni (Cabrera) get off to a really good start and Sydney Moran (7 Pts.) came in and shot the ball really well,” Nakamura added. “The whole team is doing a really good job knowing each other’s strengths and set each other up for success.”
Three other players were in double figures for the Eagles – freshman forward Jessa Thurman (13 Pts., 6-9 FGM-A, 11 RB), redshirt junior Natasa Radovic (10 Pts., 4-8 FGM-A, 2-5 3PM-A, 9 RB, 4 Assts., 3 Stls, Blk.) and redshirt sophomore Hope Weber with a season-high 10 points. She was active under the basket in her longest stint of the year and was a perfect 5 for 5 from the field and grabbed three rebounds.
Aysia Johnson (4-9 FGM-A, 6 RB, 5 A, 2 Stls.) and Jordan Rabe (4-5 FGM-A, 1-1 3 PM-A, 4 RB, Blk.) each had nine points for the Eagles.
Alex Buckley led all scorers with 24 points for Bethesda.
Biola went on a 6-0 run in the first quarter on a layup by Rabe, followed by consecutive 3-pointers by Cabrera and Radovic for the 17-5 advantage.
The Eagles more than doubled up on Bethesda by the end of the quarter with a 29-14 lead.
They continued to put the points up with another big quarter, scoring 27 points and led at the half, 56-29.
Early in the third quarter, Cabrera connected for two consecutive 3-pointers, which highlighted a 16-2 run by the Eagles.
Biola scored over 20 points for the fourth consecutive quarter for the first time this season in a game, outscoring the Flames, 21-12.
The win was the seventh in 10 overall meetings for the Eagles over Bethesda.
The trip may all be business, but coach Nakamura, who has had a love-affair with surfing most of his life, will get in a few waves early one morning with his relatives who live on the island.
What they said
Jordan Rabe, redshirt junior forward: “(Hawaii) is a huge road trip for us. We got to go out there and go 3-0 to do well in conference. Hawai’i teams always put up a fight, especially in Hawai’i. It’s definitely going to be a battle. I’m excited, it should be a good trip.
“We have a pretty solid group of returners that have been here for three years now. Bringing in the new faces with new energy has been especially good this year.
Aysia Johnson, grad student, guard: “We’ve had some really good freshmen and new players come in this year and they automatically had a big role on this team.
“We have a very deep bench and it really showed (Tuesday).
“Our record doesn’t really reflect how good of a team we are. We had a real tough preseason and we’re on a roll and we’re excited. You can tell by our bench energy we all love to see each other excel and its nice when everybody can get in the game.”