PLNU Athletics

The 2020-21 season will mark the fifth for coach Lisa Faulkner as the leader of the Point Loma women's basketball program. During her four seasons at the helm, the Sea Lions have gone 80-39 (.672 winning%) and 60-24 in the PacWest Conference.
 
Many individuals have had great success under Faulkner's leadership. In her first season, she coached Roya Rustamzada to PacWest Defender and PacWest Player of the Year honors. Rustamzada set the PacWest record for rebounds and was named an All-American. Grace Brady captured PacWest Defender of the Year honors in 2018-19 after becoming just the fourth player in conference history with more than 100 blocks in a season.
 
The Sea Lions have also been outstanding in the classroom under Faulkner. Cara Liggins captured Google Cloud Academic All-District honors in 2018-19 with a 3.97 grade point average as a Business Administration major, and last year the Sea Lions posted a 3.701 cumulative team GPA.
 
Last season (2019-20), Faulkner led the Sea Lions to an 18-11 record (14-8 PacWest). Cara Liggins and Onjalise Carley-Hilliard each captured All-PacWest honors. Carley-Hilliard led the PacWest in field goal percentage (.517) and the team paced the league with a plus-10 rebounding margin.
 
The 2018-19 was one of the best coaching jobs for Faulkner during her run at PLNU. After the team started the year out slowly, Faulkner made adjustments and helped the Sea Lions win their last 13 straight PacWest contests, and 17 of 20 overall to close the season. Cara Liggins and Sydney Peterson were named first team All-PacWest selections, and Grace Brady was voted PacWest Defender of the Year.
 
In 2017-18, Faulkner led the Sea Lions on a run as the No. 5 seed to the PacWest Conference Championship game. PLNU upset No. 4 seed Concordia and No. 1 seed Azusa Pacific to reach the title game of the PacWest tournament for the second straight year. Faulkner also help guide Roya Rustamzada to PacWest Defensive Player of the Year and PacWest Player of the Year honors. She earned All-American honors during the season and became the first PacWest women's basketball student-athlete to ever eclipse 1,000 career rebounds.
 
In her first season at the helm (2016-17), PLNU went 24-6 and earned the No. 7 seed as an at-large bid in the NCAA West Regional. Point Loma finished second in the PacWest standings (17-3) and second in the conference championships, marking the program's best-ever finishes. She also guided Roya Rustamzada and Alex Brunk to All-West Region honors, and five total Sea Lions to All-PacWest selections.
 
Faulkner joined the Sea Lions after spending the previous four seasons as an assistant coach with Boston College. Faulkner's duties with the Eagles included specializing in the development of the perimeter players, offensive strategy and recruitment. Faulkner has also had coaching stops at the University of Denver (2008-2012), Northern Arizona University (2007-08) and Vanguard (2005-07). While at Vanguard, she helped guide the Lions to a record of 62-3 and two Final Four appearances.
 
Faulkner also has an extensive background on the court. She began her playing career at Oregon City High School under 2015 National Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Brad Smith where she guided the Pioneers to two state titles. She was then recruited to play at UC Irvine where she was an All-Big West honorable mention and set the school-record for assists in a season. After her sophomore season, Faulkner transferred to Vanguard to finish out her playing career. While with the Lions she was a named the NAIA co-Player of the Year in 2005, a two-time All-American and helped Vanguard reach the Elite Eight in both seasons.
 
She graduated from Vanguard in 2005 with a 3.8 grade point average and a degree in Sociology. She went on to earn her Master's degree in Professional Studies from the University of Denver.