By Ron Smith
January 15, 2026
 
(LA MIRADA, Calif.) In a game that saw 15 lead changes and 11 ties, Westmont Women's Basketball (9-5, 5-3 PacWest) fell in overtime to the Eagles of Biola (6-7, 3-5) by a score of 65-62. Neither team held more than a seven-point lead during the tightly contested affair.
 
Four Warriors produced double-figure scoring, led by Bailey Fong who notched 13 points. The senior guard also recorded five steals, three assists and a couple of blocks. Skyler Knight went three of six from beyond the arc on her way to an 11-point game.
 
Lisa Kiefer and Molly Garnand each totaled 10 points with Kiefer going five of seven from the floor. Kiefer added eight rebounds and two steals to the stat sheet. Garnand pulled down nine boards and recorded three steals and two assists.
 
Westmont jumped out to an 11-4 lead on the strength of a layup by Garnand, followed by a trio of triples by Mariah Brown (9 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals), Fong and Garnand. However, Biola scored the next seven points to tie the game at 11.
 
Neither team led by more than four for the rest of the first or second quarters. At halftime, Biola held a 29-27 advantage.
 
At the beginning of the third quarter, a pair of layups by the Eagle's Laney Grinder and Camden Miller resulted in Biola's largest lead of the game (33-27). Westmont responded with a 9-0 run consisting of a jumper by Fong, two layups by Kiefer – both after Eagle turnovers – and a trey by Sage Kramer – also off a turnover.
 
Biola's Jaycee Goldsmith drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 36 with 3:26 remaining in the penultimate period. By the end of the third, the Eagles still had a two-point lead (40-38).
 
As the final frame began, Fong pilfered the ball, then scored on a fast break to tie the game at 40. Biola scored the next five points, but the Warriors battled back, tying the game at 49-all on the first of two long-distance bombs by Skyler Knight. Her second gave the Warriors a 52-49 advantage.
 
A traditional three-point play by Aliyah Bantolina tied the game again at 52. Brown restored the lead to Westmont on a jump shot, but Danya Dykstra's triple restored the Eagles' lead (55-54) with 1:15 remaining in regulation.
 
With 12 seconds remaining, Goldsmith added a free throw to put Biola up by two. After back-to-back timeouts called by Westmont's head coach Kirsten Moore, the Warriors inbounded the ball with four seconds to play. Fong inbounded the ball from under the basket to Kramer in the paint. Kramer dribbled the ball twice, then went up with her shot, kissing it off the glass to tie the game at 56-all with less than two seconds remaining.
 
Biola called time out and was able to get off a shot, but if fell short, and the game headed into overtime.
 
In the extra period, Dykstra started the scoring with a layup to give the Eagles a 58-56 advantage. After a steal by Brown, however, Garnand scored on a jumper in the paint, tying the game for the last time. Goldsmith put the Eagles back on top with a layup with three minutes to play. After fruitless possessions by both teams, a steal by Kiefer led to another triple by Knight, putting Westmont on top 61-60 with 2:13 to play.
 
Unfortunately for the Warriors, Grinder recaptured a 63-61 lead for Biola on an 'and-one' layup with just 35 seconds showing on the clock. After Fong was fouled with nine seconds left, she connected on a free throw to pull the Warriors to within one (63-62), but that was as close as the Warriors would get.
 
With seven seconds left, Hanne Nybo was fouled and made both free throws to put the Eagles up by three. With no timeouts remaining, the Warriors hurried the ball up the court and got off a three, but it fell short and time expired.
 
Westmont returns home to take on Fresno Pacific (5-9, 2-7) on Saturday afternoon in Murchison Gymnasium. Just last Saturday, the Warriors defeated the Sunbirds in Fresno by a score of 62-49. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.