POMONA, Calif. - The Point Loma women's basketball team opened its season with its second straight victory over a California Collegiate Athletic Association member and NCAA West Region opponent when it defeated Cal Poly Pomona, 72-54, in the PacWest/CCAA Conference Challenge on Saturday, Nov. 14.
 
Alex Brunk led the Sea Lions with 22 points as she hit six shots from behind the 3-point line. She also added six rebounds and six assists while playing the entire game. Roya Rustamzada added 19 points a team-leading five steals and seven rebounds, to go along with four assists. Madison West also reached double-figures with 12 points.
 
The Sea Lions used their advantage on the perimeter and timely runs to win the game. PLNU went 12-of-26 from 3-point range and outscored CPP by 15 points from behind the arc. The Sea Lions also had 10 steals compared to just three for the Broncos. Point Loma committed only 15 turnovers while CPP turned it over 21 times. Impressively the Sea Lions outscored CPP in second chance points 19-11, including 17-2 after the first quarter.
 
Point Loma closed out the second, third and fourth quarters on huge runs that ultimately earned them the victory. The Sea Lions took control of the game in the second quarter with an 18-7 run that put them up 35-30 at the break. Then they closed out the third quarter on a 12-2 run after CPP had retaken the lead. Finally in the fourth quarter, PLNU squashed any thought of a comeback by the Broncos by ending the game on a 12-3 run.

"We learned a lot about ourselves as a unit this weekend," said PLNU assistant coach Dwayne Cosby. "We learned we can take a punch, and then counter. Not for one moment this weekend did we panic when teams made their runs against us.
 
"We still have lots of room for improvement but once we can rebound and value our possessions we will be tough to beat," Cosby added. "I could not be more proud of the way we started our season. To be battle tested and earn two victories over great programs was very rewarding as a coach."
 
The Point Loma women's basketball team will return home to play an exhibition game on Wednesday, Nov. 18 against Bethesda at 5:30 p.m.