Concordia Can’t Hit From Outside

Concordia’s lack of a perimeter game became its downfall Friday night in the semifinals of the Golden State Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament, as Biola defeated Concordia, 82-72.

Biola (18-11) advances to Wednesday night’s final at Fresno Pacific, which defeated Point Loma Nazarene, 71-64.

Concordia (24-8) missed all six of its shots from the beyond the three-point arc; Biola made six of nine.

Yvette Williams, a reserve guard for Biola, made all three of her three-point shots, including one with 5 minutes 28 seconds remaining in the game, that pulled Biola within one point at 66-65.

Williams was left alone most of the night while Concordia double-teamed Biola’s leading scorers Sonia Stewart and Ivana Kovacic. Williams took advantage of the open court, making seven of eight from the field and scoring a career-high 20 points.

Kovacic, who matched Williams’ output with 20 points, tied the score at 68, for Biola with 4:30 remaining. Kovacic grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw by Stewart and put it in for the tie.

Concordia, which led 40-35 at the half, took an 11-point lead with 15:05 left, but watched it dwindle and held its last lead at 69-68, before Williams’ layup put Biola ahead for good with 4:15 to go.

Angela Sather, the conference player of the year, led Concordia with 18 points, but missed all seven of her free throws, including four crucial misses late in game. Teammate Melissa Ridge scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds.