LA VERNE, Calif. — Noelle Cobb fueled a big second half rally to help the University of La Verne women's basketball team climb back from a 14-point deficit but La Sierra made a late charge to beat the Leopards, 64-61, on Saturday night at Sports Science and Athletic Pavilion.

La Verne falls to 2-3 while La Sierra improves to 2-8.

The Leopards grabbed a 56-48 lead with 6:38 left in the game but the Golden Eagles scored 14 unanswered points to take control with less than a minute remaining.

La Verne had a chance to tie the game with a three-pointer with 2.6 seconds left, but La Sierra's Kailee Maeda came up with a steal on an inbounds to play to seal the win.

After a tightly contested first quarter, the Golden Eagles opened the second quarter with a 17-4 run to stake out to a 30-16 lead. But the Leopards slowly chipped away at the deficit and Cobb caught fire in the third quarter to reset the game.

Cobb jumpstarted a La Verne rally with a layup early in the second half and went on to hit three more shots during an 8-0 La Verne run to give the Leopards their first lead since the first quarter.

Cobb finished with eight points, four rebounds and two steals.

Shannon Irwin scored a game-high 19 points, 13 of which came in the second half as the Leopards took the lead.

Emily Myers notched a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

La Sierra's interior players Alexis Davis and Afolake Akingba gave the Leopards trouble all night with their size and length on both ends of the court. Davis had 18 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Akingba hauled in a game-high 17 rebounds and added eight points.

The Leopards are back in action on Thursday against Pacific (Ore.).