Chavez's 16 Second-Half Points Sparks Win

The Eagles picked up a great GSAC road win on Tuesday, January 31, as they defeated Hope International, 71-52 in Darling Pavilion in Fullerton, CA.

Melody Chavez led the Eagles with 19 points on seven-of-14 shooting, going five-of-nine from three, in addition to 10 rebounds to record the double-double.  Carly Bishop scored 13 off the bench, hitting three threes, and Amanda Fielder added 14 in the post, going five-of-ten from the field.  Elisha Taylor was the fourth Eagle in double figures with 10 points.  Nikki Kraus had five assists and controlled the tempo all night.

The game was close at halftime, with CUI up 36-33.  Hope shot 43% in the first half to keep it close, but Concordia stepped up their defense, holding the Royals to 30% second-half shooting, and using it to spread their lead. 

Concordia shot 33% for the game and hit ten three-pointers.  CUI went 13-of-16 at the line for 81%.  The turnover battle was fairly close, with CUI committing 18, compared to 24 for HIU.  The Eagles were more advantageous in taking advantage of those turnovers though, scoring 26 points off turnovers, compared to 16 for HIU.  Concordia had 20 second-chance points, and won the rebounding battle, 52-37. 

Concordia started by outscoring HIU 17-9 in the first four minutes.  Hope's good shooting kept them close though, getting within three and tying the game at 26 at the 4:24 mark.  The Royals took a two-point lead with two minutes left, but Carly Bishop hit a three and Elisha Taylor nailed a jumper to give CUI the three-point halftime lead.

The first seven minutes of the second half were very similar to the first half, with both teams playing close.  CUI rattled of a 13-0 run with the score 44-41 at the 15:15 mark.  The run was fueled by Concordia's dominance on the boards, as HIU was one and done on their end, and CUI gave themselves multiple second chances on the offensive end.  The game was decided at that point, as the lead got as big as 21 before CUI slowed down the pace of the game and took the 19-point win.

With the win CUI improved to 4-7 in the GSAC and 7-11 overall.  The Royals dropped to 4-19 and 1-10 in conference.  Concordia plays at home against Biola on Saturday, February 4, at 5:30 pm.  Follow the live stats/live stream at www.cuieagles.com.