FULLERTON – Hope International knocked down a whirlwind of three-pointers late in Thursday's Great Southwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory over Arizona Christian, riding a career-high 26-point performance from senior Aliyah Gonzalez inside Darling Pavilion.

The Royals hit six three-pointers during a five-minute span between the fourth quarter and overtime, erasing a six-point deficit with a minute and a half left in regulation to take the 80-72 win.

Gonzalez sank three of those six triples, scoring 17 of her 26 points over the final 15 minutes.

Up until Gonzalez's three with 2:45 remaining in regulation, trimming the HIU deficit to 63-61, the Royals had managed to make just four treys in the game. The Firestorm actually extended their lead to six, 67-61, following baskets from Taylor Schwab and Emily Till.

Gonzalez missed a three-pointer and the Firestorm had possession with under a minute left to play. But the Royals were gifted two missed free throws from Schwab and called timeout with 56 ticks remaining.

Nicole Chuang bombed in a three to cut the ACU lead to 67-64. HIU forced a missed layup from Ellie Heideman with 16 seconds left with Gonzalez securing the rebound. After an HIU timeout, Dre Javier banked in a three to tie the score at 67-67, and Till's game-winning attempt was awry as the Royals entered their third overtime game of the season.

HIU canned three straight triples to open the extra period – Amira Austin hitting the first one followed by back-to-back daggers from Gonzalez – and the Royals completed a 15-0 run that saw them suddenly leading 76-67.

Schwab made a three to cut the Firestorm deficit to 76-70, but the Royals hit 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch to hold off the visitors.

In a tightly contested game throughout, HIU had a 32-31 lead at halftime and ACU led 44-42 after three quarters. Both teams shot impressively in the fourth quarter with HIU outscoring ACU 25-23. HIU shot 71.4 (10 of 14) percent in the fourth, compared to 56.3 (9 of 16) percent for ACU.

Gonzalez had 10 and Austin six in the fourth. Austin hit three consecutive buckets to keep HIU close in the early portion of the quarter.

The Royals overcame a solid effort from Till, who dropped 30 points and pulled down 15 rebounds.  Schwab added 19 points.

Austin and Javier each finished with 15 points. Gonzalez tied a career high with five three-pointers and a season high with nine rebounds. Chuang chipped in 10 points.

The Royals committed a season-low four turnovers.

HIU is now 19-4 on the year and 12-1 in the GSAC, moving into a tie for first place in the standings with The Master's. The Firestorm fell to 10-15 overall and 8-5 in league play. 

HIU prepares for Senior Day on Saturday against Embry-Riddle with a noon tip. The Royals will celebrate the careers of Austin, Gonzalez, Javier, Liz Cota and Trasara Alexander.