Riverside, Calif. - The Women's Basketball Team hosted, Hope International University (1-7) in an exciting comeback win, 62-58, Saturday night.
Sydney Wallner put up a quick two points for the Golden Eagles, but the Royals would answer back and so it went until the end of the first quarter, tied up at 15 points apiece.
In the second quarter, Madelyn Moya found an open Kayla De Leon beyond the arch for a trey ball, bringing the score to 18-19, with seven minutes until the half. Unfortunately, the momentum shifted to the Royals, as they went on a 7-0 run. De'Brianna Hampton would finally answer back for the Golden Eagles, with two points off the glass, but it didn't slow down the Royals' attack, as they went up by 10 going into the half (25-35).
Once again, Madelyn Moya would find Kayla De Leon for another trey ball to open the second half, but it would be almost four minutes until the Golden Eagles scored again at the line for one point, but the damage had been done, as the Royals went up by 13 with 3:30 left to play in the third quarter. The Golden Eagles continued to chip away at the Royals lead and came within six points to end the quarter, 42-48.
In the fourth quarter, it was Kayla De Leon who would strike again for the Golden Eagles from beyond the arch, off a great ball from Luiza Rodrigues, with 8:28 left to play. Down by five, the Golden Eagles continued to claw at the Royals diminishing lead. Once again, Madelyn Moya would find the open player, Sydney Wallner for a trey ball, bringing the Golden Eagles within four of the Royals (48-52), with just over seven minutes in the game. Madelyn Moya and Kayla De Leon would both sink free throws from the stripe, putting the Golden Eagles up by two for their first lead of the game with four minutes remaining. The Royals would not back down, tying the game up twice more, until Kayla De Leon hit her fourth trey ball with just over one minute left in the game, putting the Golden Eagles up by three (59-56). With nine seconds remaining in the game, Kayla De Leon hit another trey ball, securing the Golden Eagles win, 62-58.
Head Coach Kevin Mitchell said, "We did a great job of battling through the adversity of the game. We had a rough first half, but once we settled down and played to our strengths, the momentum began to shift. The bench energy was incredible and helped to fuel our team. We were really fans of each other. Kayla De Leon hit a huge shot late in the shot clock when we needed a bucket and had a critical defensive stop at the right time."
Kayla De Leon had a game high of 21 points on the night, adding four steals for the Golden Eagles. De'Brianna Hampton had 13 points, 6 rebounds and two assists, while Sydney Wallner had 10 points and three steals. Madelyn Moya secured a team high of eight rebounds on the night.
Next up, the Golden Eagles travel to the University of Redlands, March 20th.
