IRVINE, Calif. – It seems like every other game another Concordia Eagle reaches a career milestone.

Thursday it was Jasmine Rachal's turn.

The Brea Olinda High School alum hit two free throws in the fourth quarter to become just the second Concordia women's basketball player to score 1,000 career points in the school's NCAA DII era. 

During Thursday's 69-57 home win over Point Loma, the junior finished with nine points and also tied a career-high with five steals, which ranks among the top ten performances for steals in the CUI record books.

It's actually the second time Rachal has scooped up five steals in one game and the first time an Eagle has done that since former teammate Danielle Mills did so back in December of 2019. 

"When I signed Jasmine, we signed her for this," said CUI head coach Christine Collins-Kiernan. "I knew Jasmine was going to be a program-changer and be able to score the basketball at an incredibly high level in multiple ways. And I knew she is one of the most competitive kids I've ever coached and it makes it fun to coach her. Her standards of excellence for herself are probably far and beyond most people and she competes every single day against herself. I'm super happy for her and she deserves this. She's going to smash more records and she's only a junior, this is like not even close to what she's going to accomplish. She's a great scorer and a great leader."

Rachal's teammate Michaela VanderKlugt is the other Concordia Eagle to join the 1,000-point club since 2017. VanderKlugt finished with a team-high 16 points and 11 rebounds against the Sea Lions for her seventh double-double of the season.

CUI led by as many as 18 and never trailed after the midway point of the first quarter. The Eagles (8-6, 5-3 PacWest) also forced 15 turnovers which led to a dozen points.  On the other hand, CUI only turned the ball over five times.

"We played really good team defense and we communicated really well together," said Collins-Kiernan. "But the biggest thing we did was other people stepped up and that's what we've been looking for. Having everybody that puts their feet on the floor be aggressive in all parts of their game and it made us a little bit more dangerous and it made the experience a lot more fun."

Katie Timmerman added 15 points and Samantha Fries had her best game as an Eagle with a career-high 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench.  In a crazy stretch in the fourth quarter, Fries put the game out of reach by hitting three consecutive layups while being fouled each time in the paint. The Esperanza High School alum completed two three-point plays for an eight-point burst in less than a minute.

Starters Sierra Clark and Camryn Kiernan each finished a game-best +20 during their time on the court. The pair combined for 13 points and each dished out four assists as well.

"We just haven't had a full team for a very long time but somehow they find a way to piece it together," said Collins-Kiernan. "I think every single one of our losses you can attribute to us being soft. And I think in every single one of our wins, it's been because they have been resilient, tough and had the ability to get it done from the beginning to the end and that really showed in this game. It's a testament to them figuring it out and some people are playing out of position, having to scrap both offensively and defensively."

The Sea Lions (8-7, 3-5 PacWest) had won seven of the previous eight meetings in CU Arena, but now the Eagles have won two of the last three when they play in Irvine. This includes last year's two meetings in Irvine in the temporary SoCal Pod of the PacWest.

Concordia gets the next few days to prepare for its upcoming three-game homestand against the Hawai'i schools from the PacWest.  Hawai'i Hilo comes to town on Monday, Jan. 24 to get things going with a 5 p.m. start before the men's contest at 7:30 p.m.

CLICK HERE for the updated CUI women's basketball schedule