The No. 8-ranked Sea Lions outscored Cal Baptist 14-4 in overtime to finish their last regular season road game with a 80-70 victory Tuesday. The Sea Lions improved to 25-3 overall and 16-3 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. The Lancers fell to 12-16 overall and 5-13 in GSAC.
Point Loma remains third in the GSAC standings and will probably be the third seed in the conference tournament. The team's competitor Tuesday is eighth in the playoff picture.
“I really don't know why this game was so difficult,” said senior guard Liah Ector, who had 18 points and eight rebounds and who was named NAIA Player of the Week earlier in the day. "CBU came to play. The game was physical."
The top four teams in conference all won their games Tuesday, and the top two, Vanguard and Azusa Pacific, have identical conference records (16-2). Biola (12-6) is in fourth place. PLNU has split with all three teams in the running for the GSAC title.
“We are hoping we can play APU and Vanguard again,” Ector said. “We split, and it's not like they beat us both times.”
The Sea Lions started the game Tuesday strong, gaining an eight-point lead in the first 5:40. PLNU built the lead to 12 in the final minutes of the half with a layup from junior guard Amanda Franz, but the Lancers cut the Sea Lions' lead to seven by halftime.
CBU kept up its momentum in the second, and tied the game at 36 apiece two and a half minutes in. PLNU seemed to recover, building a ten-point lead in the following four minutes, but the Lancers caught up again with 3:23 remaining in regulation.
A layup from CBU junior guard Brenna Hahn gave the Lancers a two-point lead – the team's first and only lead of the entire game – with 1:05 remaining. Sophomore forward Kaitlyn Trotter answered with a jumper to send the game into overtime.
The NAIA leading scorer, senior forward Colleen Planeta, subbed out of the game at the start of the overtime.
“They didn't put (Planeta) back in. With one of our best players out of the game, I had to step up as the other captain,” said Ector. “I think that my performance was me stepping up and being the leader my team needed me to be. We showed when the odds were stacked against us that we could still win.”
The Sea Lions picked up five unanswered points in the start of the extra period. Though CBU got within one point in the final two minutes, a three pointer from sophomore guard Brianna Colon and six made free throws, the final four from Ector, gave the Sea Lions their 10-point win.
Despite not playing in overtime, Planeta led her team with 19 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks. Franz was the third Sea Lion to shoot double digits with 17 points and she dished out five assists. Trotter added eight points and eight boards. PJ Hanson pulled in 10 rebounds.
PLNU shot just 33 percent against CBU and made just 4-of-16 three pointers.
"Our three leading scorers did not have the best night, but we still scored 80 points," said Coach Bill Westphal. "I'm proud of the girls, they found a way to win even though the ball was not falling tonight."
CBU shot 38 percent led by senior guard Megan Bradford's 26 points. Senior forward Heather Couzens added 12 points and 16 rebounds.
PLNU will play its final home game of the regular season against unranked The Master's College Saturday, but the team is not taking the Mustangs lightly.
“We still remember when we lost to them our last game last year,” Ector said. “We're not taking them lightly at all. On any given night any team can beat us.”
The game will be held in Golden Gymnasium at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
-Nathan Scharn
