Phoenix, AZ- After falling behind by 13 halfway through the second quarter, Arizona Christian kept chipping away and chipping away until they pulled out the 60-55 win over visiting Biola on Tuesday evening.  Freshman Courtney Christmas delivered a game high 21 points on the strength of 16 second half points.

The Eagles (13-15, 6-8 GSAC) scored first before Freshman Jada Willingham tied the score at 2-2.  Biola nailed a three pointer moments later to move ahead.  The lead grew in Biola's favor to five by the end of the first quarter.

To begin the second quarter, BU outscored ACU 11-3 to hold a 24-11 edge with five minutes remaining before the half time break.  But over the next five minutes, the roles completely changed as the Firestorm (12-14, 4-9 GSAC) outscored the Eagles 11-2 to close out the half.

With their late run, ACU closed the gap to just four (26-22) at the break.  Despite shooting just 25% from the field in the first twenty minutes of play, hitting 9-12 free throws kept the Firestorm within striking distance.

Senior Madison Austin scored a team high seven points in the opening half.  Biola's Aubree Mittel notched a half high of eight points.

In the third quarter, the teams both cashed in 20 points to keep the game a four point affair headed to the fourth quarter.

Fast forward to 2:34 left in the contest and Christmas tied the score for the sixth time on the evening as her layup knotted the score at 53-53.  Freshman Makayla Enders knocked down a pair of free throws to give ACU a 55-53 cushion- their first lead of the game with two minutes and change left.

ACU sealed the deal with a layup by Christmas, free throw from Willingham, and a bucket from Enders.

The game came down to turnovers in which Biola committed 19 turnovers versus 11 for Arizona Christian.  At one point in the first half the turnovers were equal at 8-8.  The Firestorm accounted for 19 points off the Eagle turnovers while BU could only score nine points off the ACU miscues.

Austin finished with 13 points.  Senior Jazmin Mays pulled in a team high 10 rebounds while dishing out a game high four assists.  Casey Taylor paced Biola with 13 points and 13 rebounds.

Arizona Christian climbed within a half game of the sixth and final GSAC playoff spot with three games to play.  The Firestorm still face the two teams directly ahead of them in the standings.  For their first attempt to get into the playoffs, ACU will host Williams Jessup on Saturday at 3:00 pm (AT)/2:00 pm (PT).  For Biola, they will try to end a four game slide when they host Menlo at 2:00 pm (PT) on Saturday.