COSTA MESA – The pulse stuttered on senior night 2026, as women's basketball worked their way back down from a 19-point deficit to dispatch Biola in a 67-65 overtime result at the Freed Center. Biola owned the first three quarters of basketball with a well-constructed defensive brigade, but the Lions cracked open a 20-6 fourth quarter finish and survived the Eagles' buzzer-beating three-point attempt to take the game at the death. Kaylee Byon did her best work in crunch time, scoring 14 points through the last 15 minutes of action, which included the game-tying basket at the buzzer to force the extra period, and the game-winning layup in overtime. She finished with a game-high 20 points, seven assists, and four rebounds.

Vanguard now stands at 20-4, 16-3 in the Pacific West Conference. The win marks the 23rd 20-win season in program history and keeps the Lions at the top of the standings. After Point Loma's defeat to Concordia in overtime earlier in the evening, Westmont snatched second place to put themselves a game behind VU. As for Biola, they drop to 12-13, 9-11, suffering a tough defeat that eliminates them from postseason contention for the first time in six seasons.

What Happened?
Pre-game ceremonies honored VU's four seniors: Halle Si'i, Jaryn Madsen, Kaylee Byon, and Shayla O'Neil. Halle Si'i, who suffered a season-ending injury in late January, was able to dress out to feature as a starter. The Lions honored her at the opening tip, where she dribbled out the clock and stepped off, as the 12th-best scorer in program history (1165) and fifth-place leader in assists (443) was showered with a standing ovation before coming out of the game.

The first quarter played out poorly for both teams, as they combined for just 20 points, with the bulk of VU's scoring coming at the end of the period. The Lions scored first thanks to Emma Schaaf, and Byon hit two free throws, giving the Lions a 4- 0 start. VU only hit one field goal over the next 7:30 of the quarter though, allowing the visitors to go up 7-6. The Lions went just 1-9 from deep, but saw Hudson trigger from the wing to regain the lead, and two steals and a layup from Boozer finished the quarter at 11-9 Vanguard.

Biola outpaced the Blue and Gold 43-17 over the next two quarters, in a dismal spell which stymied the energy in the Freed Center. Biola was all over Vanguard defensively during the stretch, forcing the Lions to take 12 of their 26 field goals in the next two quarters from three-point range, as the Eagles clogged the inside.

With a six-point lead exiting the halftime break (32-26 BU), Biola's offense continued to click and started catching stride with their defensive prowess. They shot 50% (23-46) from the floor, 44% (11-25) from three, and 72% (8-11) from the free throw line over the match, but through quarters two and three, hit an outstanding 65% (17-26) of their shots, which included an 8-14 split from deep.

The Eagles' 17-0 run spanning both halves eventually put the Lions down by 19, with a nearly seven-minute scoring drought from Vanguard pushing the score to 45-26 Biola with 4:09 remaining in the third quarter. Boozer broke the deadlock with a one-two punch with Byon to score at the low blocks, and Aryanna Hudson had a three-pointer from the left corner to try to add fuel to the Vanguard fire. The Lions ended the frame on a 12-6 run to trim the lead down to 14 (52-38 BU) going into the fourth quarter.

Vanguard had its legs back under them in the fourth quarter, as a full-court press laid the groundwork to fight their way back. They would squeeze 25 turnovers out of the Eagles throughout the game, with 23 points off turnovers and led 8-1 in the category in the final quarter.

The Lions had a 5-0 push to kick off the period, immediately prompting a Biola timeout with less than two minutes spent in the stanza. Biola's respite could not wait out the storm, however, as the duo of Micaela Hanning and Akilah Kubi led a fortified defensive outburst. The box score could not do the pair justice, as they tripped the wire defensively to set off an explosive 14-4 run through the quarter, making it a two-possession game (56-52 BU).

As far as scoring went, Byon took charge of the closing moments. She had 10 fourth-quarter points and set up Kubi off a silky feed through the lane to make it 58-56 BU. Then, with six seconds left in regulation, the transfer sprayed past two Eagle defenders down the lane, rising at the right block to touch one off glass and tie the game at the buzzer.

The Lions had control throughout the bulk of the overtime period, with Byon continuing to pull the strings with four of the nine Lion overtime points. VU went up by five (65-60) with a 6-2 run, after Hudson's third triple of the contest. The Lions tried to slow the game from there with 2:50 on the clock, but their efforts proved wasteful as two stagnant offensive possessions put Biola with a chance to score five straight of their own and level the game at 65. Right on cue, Byon closed her senior night with another dagger, squeezing through traffic to tack on the game-winning layup with 10 seconds left to play.

Biola did manage a quality look to win the game at the buzzer, but the right wing triple hit everything but the bottom of the basket, swinging off backboard, iron, and rolling around the cup, before eventually spilling out to hand the Lions the overtime win.

Schaaf had 14 points and seven rebounds. Hanning netted 10 points, with eight rebounds, while Hudson finished with nine.  

What Was Said? "Another great comeback for us," noted Head Coach Russ Davis, "We found a way to get it done in the end. Three games left. We need to keep battling."

What's Next? The final road trip of the regular season starts at Jessup on Tuesday, February 24, at 5:30 p.m.