BOX SCORE
SAN DIEGO - The Sea Lions trailed big early, but would rally to force overtime against visiting California Baptist Tuesday night. Tied at 80-all, Sea Lion guard
Crissa Jackson nailed a jumper with just seconds remaining in overtime to lift PLNU to an 82-80 win.
PLNU (3-1, 1-0 GSAC) scored first with a 3-pointer by Kiley Berlinski. The conference contest was tied at 9-9 but the Sea Lions didn't not find net again until they trailed by 15 points midway into the opening stanza.
But all was not lost as the Sea Lions closed the half on a furious run. A three by Jackson and two layups by Kaitlin Trotter at the end of the period made the score 41-44 at the break.
During the second half, Trotter scored first with a layup to cut the deficit to just one point. The Sea Lions would get close, but were never able to erase the deficit totally until there was 3:34 left on the clock and Belinski hit a three pointer with an assist by Jackson for a 70-all score.
The Lancers came back with a bucket by Brenna Hahn. Trotter tied up the game again with a layup of her own. The remaining two minutes of the second half were scoreless with both teams missing shots that would have won the contest in regulation.
“That was one of the biggest nail bitters I have ever seen,” said PLNU guard Jessy Ashton. “We were down by about fifteen at one point and we came back and fought through. We never gave up and showed so much heart.”
Trotter scored first in overtime for PLNU with a jumper quickly making the score 74-72. The teams traded shots for the next three minutes. Brenna Hahn tied the game at 80-80 with 1:53 left on the clock on the 12th trey of the night for CBU.
Both sides were unable to find paydirt, missing on the next seven attempts. Jackson finished off the game, though, on a charging layup with six seconds left on the scoreboard. The Lancers missed a desperation shot at the buzzer.
“It feels real good,” Jackson said of the win. “It's a step towards everything. It shows how we have potential; it's a whole new team and we're ready to play and let go. I'm just proud of us for coming back. We were fierce, ready to go, not taking any intimidation from them. We just came out and played a good game.”
Forward Lindsay Hill agreed: “We really fought back and showed so much heart. I can tell every single person wants to really win and if we can keep that up we'll have a great season.”
Trotter led the night, recording a double-double with 31 points and 12 rebounds while Jackson added 22. Andrea Campbell garnered 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds.
Cal Baptist's V.V. Vasciunaite was the biggest scorer with 26 points and Renetha Burton also recorded a double-double, 25 points and 12 rebounds. Hahn was hot on her heels with 21 points.
The Sea Lions shot at 40.9 percent while the Lancers recorded a 45.6 shooting percentage.
The biggest difference was in free throw shooting. While Point Loma went to the line 27 times, Cal Baptist only made nine appearances at the stripe. The Lancers (6-3, 0-1 GSAC) also made 20 turnovers to the Sea Lions' 12.
Point Loma will be traveling to Santa Barbara on Saturday to take on Westmont College, starting at 5:30 PM. During last year's season the Sea Lions beat the Warriors two times during conference. However, PLNU came up short against WC in GSAC Quarterfinals, losing 62-64.
