Women's Basketball 12/21/2023 7:25:56 AM Biola, Rix and Heimburger Grab Early Holiday Gifts PacWest WBB action heats up in time for holiday break. Play resumes Dec. 30 Biola, Fresno Pacific, Azusa Pacific and Dominican rode into the break with some big victories to place under the Christmas tree. Dominican knocked off No. 1 regionally ranked Western Washington, but Biola then turned the tables to upset the Penguins. APU won another early season showdown, this time against Point Loma behind Kelly Heimburger's 27 points, and the Sunbirds just keep winning thank you very much to Maesyn Rix, a double-double machine. 2023-24 Results/Schedule 2023-24 Standings 2023-24 Statistics PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Azusa Pacific's Kelly Heimburger, F, Jr., 6-0, San Jose, Calif. Azusa Pacific's Kelly Heimburger lit up the scoreboard on Tuesday (Dec. 19) at home against Point Loma for 27 points and also pulled down eight rebounds, had four steals and two blocks. It was another big win for the Cougars, who snapped Point Loma's four-game win streak, allowing APU to improve to 9-3 overall and to 3-0 in PacWest play. Heimburger's team had to overcome a 10-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to rally for the 67-63 win. The 6-foot junior put her team up for good with 1:30 left on a short jumper to cap her night. Heimburger hit 13 of 22 shots from the field and now averages 16.3 points per game, tops in the conference. DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: Fresno Pacific's Maesyn Rix, F, Sr., 5-10, Auberry, Calif. Fresno Pacific's Maesyn Rix grabbed her second Defender of the Week award, pulling down 26 total rebounds in a pair of Sunbird victories. The senior forward also scored 32 points, had five assists and four steals as FPU improved to 9-2 with wins over Seattle Pacific (62-46) and UC Merced (75-47). Rix hit 13 of her 17 shots from the field as well. In the win over the Falcons of the GNAC, she had double-double number of 14 points and 14 rebounds, and against future CCAA member UC Merced she added 18 points and 12 boards. The fourth-year Sunbird leads the PacWest in rebounding at 10.1 per game. EAGLES ROLL INTO BREAK RED-HOT: The PacWest Team of the Week is Biola. The Eagles moved to 3-1 in PacWest play with a huge home win over Dominican, who came to La Mirada with a 9-2 record and had wins already during the week over Chaminade, Western Washington and Concordia. Biola scored 49 second-half points in the win, with Kaylen Kamelamela pacing her team with 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. On Saturday, the Eagles clipped Academy of Art (73-54) behind Jordan Rabe's 19 points and 11 rebounds. After a 4-4 start, Biola has won its last three contests. REGIONAL WATCH: The PacWest has two teams in the top four and three squads in the top eight in the latest D2CIDA West Region Women's Basketball Poll. The Cougars checked in at No. 3, with Dominican at No. 4 and Fresno Pacific 8. The poll comes out each Tuesday (Dec. 19). Here is this week's list, with records through Dec. 18. (1) Montana State Billings 10-3, (2) Western Washington 8-2, (3) Azusa Pacific 8-3, (4) Dominican 9-2 , (5) CS San Marcos 6-3, (6) Central Washington 9-3, (7) Sonoma State 7-2, (8) Fresno Pacific 8-2, (9) Stanislaus State 9-5, (10) CS Los Angeles 5-4. RV--Cal Poly Pomona, Point Loma. PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: It's very early of course, but the top half of the PacWest standings look like this--Fresno Pacific and Azusa Pacific at 3-0, Biola 3-1, Point Loma 2-1 and Dominican and Concordia tied at 2-2...Academy of Art's Alba Rovira Ayuso had seven steals against Biola, the second highest total in the PacWest this year. She also had 37 points, 11 rebounds, and eight steals for the week for the Urban Knights...Concordia freshman sensation Izzy Navarro had 24 points in CUI's win over Academy of Art. Navarro is second in the conference in scoring at 16.1 points per game...Dominican's Adia Walker had 25 points in their win over Concordia and added 19 points in the Penguins' loss to Biola. In DUC's 74-69 win over Western Washington, the home team trailed 43-35 at halftime but outscored the Vikings 19-9 in the third quarter. Jenna Duley had 19 points and five assists, who handed WWU just its second loss of the season (7-2)...Tavia Rowell had 21 points and six rebounds in Point Loma's 57-41 win over Westmont...Concordia's Stephanie Lee topped 1,000 career points (including her time at Biola) and graduated from nursing school on the same weekend...Hawai`i Hilo's Jeniece Harmon totaled 31 points, had 13 rebounds and eight assists as the Vulcans split non-conference games at the Big Island Classic. THIS WEEK IN THE PACWEST: The PacWest schedule this week is closed. NCAA Division II requires a "dead period" with no games or practice from Dec. 20-28. Fresno Pacific will get back to action on the 29th against Southern California Leadership University, while PacWest play resumes on Dec. 30 with Azusa Pacific at Concordia, Dominican at Westmont, Chaminade at Point Loma and Hawaii Hilo at Biola. To see the complete schedule and results, click here.
Biola, Fresno Pacific, Azusa Pacific and Dominican rode into the break with some big victories to place under the Christmas tree. Dominican knocked off No. 1 regionally ranked Western Washington, but Biola then turned the tables to upset the Penguins. APU won another early season showdown, this time against Point Loma behind Kelly Heimburger's 27 points, and the Sunbirds just keep winning thank you very much to Maesyn Rix, a double-double machine. 2023-24 Results/Schedule 2023-24 Standings 2023-24 Statistics PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Azusa Pacific's Kelly Heimburger, F, Jr., 6-0, San Jose, Calif. Azusa Pacific's Kelly Heimburger lit up the scoreboard on Tuesday (Dec. 19) at home against Point Loma for 27 points and also pulled down eight rebounds, had four steals and two blocks. It was another big win for the Cougars, who snapped Point Loma's four-game win streak, allowing APU to improve to 9-3 overall and to 3-0 in PacWest play. Heimburger's team had to overcome a 10-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to rally for the 67-63 win. The 6-foot junior put her team up for good with 1:30 left on a short jumper to cap her night. Heimburger hit 13 of 22 shots from the field and now averages 16.3 points per game, tops in the conference. DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: Fresno Pacific's Maesyn Rix, F, Sr., 5-10, Auberry, Calif. Fresno Pacific's Maesyn Rix grabbed her second Defender of the Week award, pulling down 26 total rebounds in a pair of Sunbird victories. The senior forward also scored 32 points, had five assists and four steals as FPU improved to 9-2 with wins over Seattle Pacific (62-46) and UC Merced (75-47). Rix hit 13 of her 17 shots from the field as well. In the win over the Falcons of the GNAC, she had double-double number of 14 points and 14 rebounds, and against future CCAA member UC Merced she added 18 points and 12 boards. The fourth-year Sunbird leads the PacWest in rebounding at 10.1 per game. EAGLES ROLL INTO BREAK RED-HOT: The PacWest Team of the Week is Biola. The Eagles moved to 3-1 in PacWest play with a huge home win over Dominican, who came to La Mirada with a 9-2 record and had wins already during the week over Chaminade, Western Washington and Concordia. Biola scored 49 second-half points in the win, with Kaylen Kamelamela pacing her team with 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. On Saturday, the Eagles clipped Academy of Art (73-54) behind Jordan Rabe's 19 points and 11 rebounds. After a 4-4 start, Biola has won its last three contests. REGIONAL WATCH: The PacWest has two teams in the top four and three squads in the top eight in the latest D2CIDA West Region Women's Basketball Poll. The Cougars checked in at No. 3, with Dominican at No. 4 and Fresno Pacific 8. The poll comes out each Tuesday (Dec. 19). Here is this week's list, with records through Dec. 18. (1) Montana State Billings 10-3, (2) Western Washington 8-2, (3) Azusa Pacific 8-3, (4) Dominican 9-2 , (5) CS San Marcos 6-3, (6) Central Washington 9-3, (7) Sonoma State 7-2, (8) Fresno Pacific 8-2, (9) Stanislaus State 9-5, (10) CS Los Angeles 5-4. RV--Cal Poly Pomona, Point Loma. PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: It's very early of course, but the top half of the PacWest standings look like this--Fresno Pacific and Azusa Pacific at 3-0, Biola 3-1, Point Loma 2-1 and Dominican and Concordia tied at 2-2...Academy of Art's Alba Rovira Ayuso had seven steals against Biola, the second highest total in the PacWest this year. She also had 37 points, 11 rebounds, and eight steals for the week for the Urban Knights...Concordia freshman sensation Izzy Navarro had 24 points in CUI's win over Academy of Art. Navarro is second in the conference in scoring at 16.1 points per game...Dominican's Adia Walker had 25 points in their win over Concordia and added 19 points in the Penguins' loss to Biola. In DUC's 74-69 win over Western Washington, the home team trailed 43-35 at halftime but outscored the Vikings 19-9 in the third quarter. Jenna Duley had 19 points and five assists, who handed WWU just its second loss of the season (7-2)...Tavia Rowell had 21 points and six rebounds in Point Loma's 57-41 win over Westmont...Concordia's Stephanie Lee topped 1,000 career points (including her time at Biola) and graduated from nursing school on the same weekend...Hawai`i Hilo's Jeniece Harmon totaled 31 points, had 13 rebounds and eight assists as the Vulcans split non-conference games at the Big Island Classic. THIS WEEK IN THE PACWEST: The PacWest schedule this week is closed. NCAA Division II requires a "dead period" with no games or practice from Dec. 20-28. Fresno Pacific will get back to action on the 29th against Southern California Leadership University, while PacWest play resumes on Dec. 30 with Azusa Pacific at Concordia, Dominican at Westmont, Chaminade at Point Loma and Hawaii Hilo at Biola. To see the complete schedule and results, click here.