Box Score La Mirada, CA—Trailing 35-34 at halftime, the University of Mary women's basketball team (2-1) was dominant in the second half cruising to 76-56 win over NAIA Biola University  (0-7) Saturday evening. U-Mary outscored Biola 42-21 in the second half.
 
For the second consecutive night, Linda Murray put up 20 or more points as she finished with a game-high 21 on 8-for-16 shooting. Murray also added eight rebounds.   
 
Aubree Mittell led the Eagles offensively with a team-high 11 points.
 
U-Mary struggled from deep going just 1-for-10 and shot a pedestrian 43 percent from the field, but the Marauders took full advantage of their 32 free throw attempts shooting at a 72 percent clip. The Eagles shot 36 percent from the field and 39 percent from deep. Biola attempted just 13 free throws, connecting on nine of them.
 
An 8-0 run early in the first half keyed by two lay-ups from Murray gave U-Mary a 12-4 lead. Trailing nearly the entire first half, the Eagles chipped away at the Marauders lead and eventually took a one-point lead with 3:45 left until halftime. U-Mary briefly retook that lead on a pair of free throw from Sloan Turner, but Biola went into halftime with a 35-34 lead.
 
Scoring the first four points of the half, Murray gave the Marauders a three-point lead.  The two teams battled back and fourth early on in the half until U-Mary went on a 10-point five minute run to balloon its lead to 14. Ashlee Harper, who provided a spark off the bench for the Marauders, scored six points during the run. U-Mary went on to win by a final of 76-56.
 
The Marauders struggled to take care of the ball in the first half with 12 turnovers, but settled down in the second as they finished with 16. U-Mary was able to force 17 turnovers, including eight steals.
 
The Marauders dominated inside holding a 45-30 advantage on the glass and outscoring the Eagles 38-14 from the paint.
 
Harper finished with 15 points on for 7-for-10 shooting off the bench and had a game-high nine rebounds.  With 13 points Brittney Dietz was one of three U-Mary players in double figures. Lindsey Sand put fourth another solid all-around performance finishing with nine points, six rebounds and career-high seven assists. Sand committed just one turnover in  33 minutes.
 
The Marauders will be idle next weekend. U-Mary will be in action next on the road as they open conference play against in-state foe Minot State University on November 30.
 
#marauders#