Irvine, Calif. - On Monday afternoon the Concordia University Irvine women's basketball closed out the 2022 portion of their season against Holy Names University. The Golden Eagles looked to build their winning streak to three after a close victory over Fresno Pacific.

In the first quarter Concordia and Holy Names traded buckets and neither team was able to separate from the other. Heading into halftime up by one, the Hawks struggled to find a way to stop Jasmine Rachal. Concordia's veteran guard kept the Golden Eagles in the fight, scoring 19 of CUI's 31 points.

Although Concordia was able to corral Holy Names' relentless three point shooting, CUI needed their offense to come alive if they were going to come away with a win. After scoring 18 and 13 points respectively in the first quarters, the Golden Eagles found their rhythm and outscored the Hawks 34-16 in the third. 

"We really locked in defensively and played our matchups better in the second half," said Katie Timmerman. "Offensively, we moved the ball around and got better shots and found a good rhythm."

Despite CUI only out-scoring Holy Names 23-19 in the final ten minutes of action, the damage was already done. The Golden Eagles were able to soar away with the 88-67 win. This moved them to a very strong 5-1 record in PacWest play with their only loss being to first place Azusa Pacific. Concordia's Rachal led the squad with 21 points in only eight minutes of action.

The biggest takeaway from this game was the depth of head coach Christine Collins-Kiernan's squad. Over ten different Golden Eagles scored and nearly 40 of their points came off the bench. Notable performances include Erika Maggard who shot perfectly from the field and Stephanie Lee putting up an impressive statline of four assists and rebounds to go along with her 11 points.

Riding a now three-game win streak, the Golden Eagles will be heading home for the holidays before heading across the Pacific Ocean to start 2023.

"It's good momentum for us going into our winter break as we get a mental and physical reset," added Timmerman. "Then we can come back and keep attacking as we get ready for our Hawaii road trip."

To see the full CUI women's basketball schedule CLICK HERE.

CUI will be in Honolulu Thursday, Jan. 3 at 7:30 p.m. PST as they open their first 2023 roadtrip against Hawaii Pacific.