HONOLULU, Hawaii - The Point Loma women's basketball team started its road trip with a convincing 77-46 victory over Chaminade on Saturday, Jan. 3.
 
Ten student-athletes scored for the Sea Lions (4-7, 2-2 PacWest). Madison West led the team with 15 points. Riley Abraham also added 12 points and a team-leading eight rebounds, while Jessica Escorza reached double-figures with 10 points. She also had three steals and six rebounds.
 
"We have 10 players that can all play," said Point Loma head coach Bill Westphal. "We are trying to match the right combinations that play the best together. If we can keep shuffling 10 players in an out we can keep the pressure up all game and it makes it more fun for everyone."
 
It was the defense that set the tone from the beginning and carried it through to the final buzzer. The 46 points allowed were a season-low for PLNU and the 24 forced turnovers was one off their season-best. The Sea Lions held Chaminade (0-8, 0-4 PacWest) to eight points in the first 11 minutes of the game to build a 25-8 lead. Point Loma never trailed in the entire contest after scoring the first four points to start the game.
 
"We knew we wanted to pick up full-court pressure, double team as much as possible and keep them from running a set offense," Westphal explained. "We when were able to do that we created a lot of chances for ourselves."
 
PLNU also held a significant advantage at the free throw line, where it outscored CUH by 17 and outshot them 28-9 from the charity stripe. PLNU also won the rebounding battle 39-29 and its bench outscored the Silverswords 37-10.
 
"Aggressive offense comes from aggressive defense; and we want to have both," Westphal said. "When we are aggressive we get to the free throw line more because of open court situations where we are driving and attacking."
 
Point Loma will continue its Hawaii road trip on Monday, Dec. 5 at Hawaii Pacific. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. (PST).