Box Score

AZUSA, Calif. - Jessica Escorza scored 22 points, and Callie Rhoads and Erin Andersen each poured in 20 to lead the Point Loma women's basketball team to a dominant 82-61 win over second-place Azusa Pacific on Saturday, Feb. 22.

This was the seventh straight win for the Sea Lions (16-9, 12-7 PacWest) who moved into within a half-game of third-place California Baptist in the Pacific West Conference standings. The loss for APU (16-8, 14-4 PacWest) secured the 2013-14 PacWest Championship for Academy of Art.

The Sea Lions shot a season-high 58 percent from the field, and 60 percent from behind the arc to earn the road victory. Rhoads led PLNU's efficient offensive attack by going 7-of-10 from the field, including 6-of-7 from 3-point range. Andersen hit 80 percent of her shots as she went 8-of-10 shooting, and Escorza added a 7-of-11 performance to go along with a team-leading nine rebounds.

It was Savannah Erskine who delivered the ball to the shooters all night in quality positions to score. She dished out 13 assists in the contest to tie Christy Stevens (1993) for the second-most assists in a single game in Sea Lions' history. She was just two short of Sue Gerber's school-record 15 assists which was set in 1980. She also added three steals and four points.

PLNU never trailed in the contest and led by as many as 23. The Sea Lions were nearly able to put the game out of reach in the first half as they posted a 19-0 run to extend their lead from 15-12 to 34-12 in just six minutes. They would hold a 46-26 lead at the half and never allowed APU to get the lead back to single-digits in the second half. Azusa did cut the Sea Lions' lead to 11 with 11:18 remaining but PLNU answered with a 12-2 run to extend their lead back over 20.

"This was a hard-earned win on the road against a really good team," said PLNU senior forward Erin Andersen. "Our defense really got us going today. We played with energy and as a team we really played well together. We know how each other plays and Savannah (Erskine) is an awesome point guard."

PLNU limited APU to 42 percent shooting on the evening and outscored them 26-14 in points off turnovers. Allison Greene and Sendy Valles, who both came into the game averaging over 14.5 points per game, where the leading scorers for the Cougars with 11 points apiece.

The Sea Lions will now return home to close out the regular season against California Baptist with third place in the PacWest on the line on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 5:30 p.m.