The No. 3-ranked Sea Lions won their ninth straight game after defeating No. 20 Westmont 67-56 Saturday evening. PLNU improved to 16-1 on the season and 7-1 in conference. The Warriors dropped to 10-5 overall and 3-5 in GSAC.
The Sea Lions didn't take as many shots as WC, but they made them count. PLNU shot 59 percent, making 29 of 49 attempts, compared to 35.8 percent on 67 attempts from Westmont. The Sea Lions controlled the boards, out-rebounding the Warriors 36-28. PLNU also had nine blocks and WC had just one, but the Warriors grabbed 10 steals to Point Loma's six.
PLNU was perfect from the line, where they have struggled of late, making all five attempts.
WC stifled the Sea Lions after tipoff with an unanswered three-pointer and a layup from Alisha Hegland. PLNU fought to recover from the early deficit and tied it for the first time 10 minutes into the first half. The teams traded the lead back-and-forth before going into the half deadlocked at 34-34.
PLNU's Avery Lee and Colleen Planeta led the team out of the locker room with six unanswered points to start the second, but the lead was short-lived. The Warriors tied it up 40-40 with 16:22 to play.
Point Loma gained momentum gradually for the remainder of the half, and were ahead by 13, the biggest lead of the game, in the final 30 seconds.
Planeta led in scoring for PLNU with 20 points and also had nine rebounds and seven blocks. She was followed by Liah Ector with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Brianna Colon bucketed 11 points.
Hegland was the leader on offense for the Warriors with 15 points, followed by Amber Stevens with 12 and Jessica Case with 10.
The Sea Lions stay home for Tuesday, when they'll host Cal Baptist at 5:30 p.m. in Golden Gymnasium.
-Nathan Scharn
