After being up by as much as 15 points with 11 minutes to play in the second half, the No. 3-seeded Sea Lions were knocked out of the Golden State Athletic Conference championship tournament in the first round by underdog Westmont 64-62 in Golden Gym Wednesday.
PLNU will not play again until the NAIA national tournament that begins on March 17. Because of the first round playoff loss the Sea Lions may enter nationals with a lower seeding than its current No. 8 ranking.
“We may not be ranked as high, but that doesn't matter,” said PLNU Head Coach Bill Westphal. “All the teams are really good – the top 16 anyway. We'll still be rated in the top 16, maybe top 10.”
GSAC tournament No. 2 seed Azusa Pacific was upset as well. The Cougars lost to seven-seed Hope International 76-67. Westmont will host HIU in a semifinal tilt on Friday.
The Sea Lions shot 38.5 percent Wednesday, compared to 40.4 percent for the Warriors. Westphal said missed shots and turnovers near the end of the game were the main reason for the loss.
“How do you stop the bleeding when you turn it over and you can't make a shot?” said Westphal. “The game's over and you lose, that's what happens.”
The game was close for the first five minutes, but the Sea Lions pulled ahead for a 10 point lead about seven minutes later. Westmont fought back and closed the gap over the remaining minutes of the first, however. Alisha Heglund made a pair of layups and Larissa Hensley making a jumper to cut PLNU's lead to just three at the break.
The Sea Lions hadn't lost their momentum yet at the start of the second half, and built another 10-point lead in the first five minutes. PLNU topped out with a 15-point advantage with 11:08 to play.
That's when the Warriors grabbed the momentum for good.
“In these conference tournaments, the lower teams have everything to win and the top teams have everything to lose, and they kind of played like that,” Westphal said. “We thought we could win with just kind of mediocre (playing).”
Loma gave up five unanswered points, before senior guard Liah Ector kicked the lead back up to 12. Westmont came back with a 9-0 run, closing to within three points with 6:28 to play. PLNU went back up by six after Colleen Planeta made a jumper and a pair of free throws.
But a Jessica Case triple and a layup by Amber Stevens had the WC just one down with 2:11 to play. Despite an impressive layup from Ector, the Warriors were able to take advantage of free throw opportunities, the last three made by Stevens, including a pair with 20 ticks on the clock.
PLNU was unable to convert on their final possession and Westmont came away with a improbable two-point win.
“We missed more opportunities to score than we had all year,” said Westphal.
Ector led the Sea Lions with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Senior forward Colleen Planeta, who returned after missing a game due to a sprained ankle, scored 20 and had 12 rebounds and six blocks. Junior guard Amanda Franz, who averages 14.2 points per game, went 0-9 Wednesday.
Point Loma struggled from beyond the arc, sinking just 2-of-13 attempts. In addition, PLNU hurt themselves with 17 turnovers which directly led to 20 opposition points and bench was ineffective, contributing just two points.
Haglund topped the scoreboard for the Warriors with 16 points and 13 rebounds, followed by Stevens with 14 points and Case with 13.
-Nathan Scharn
