SAN DIEGO - Madison West scored 22 points and Alex Brunk added 20 more as the Point Loma women's basketball team defeated Northwest Nazarene, 80-67, in front of a Homecoming crowd of 1,227 fans in Golden Gymnasium on Saturday, Nov. 21.
 
The Sea Lions are now 3-0 on the season with all three victories coming against NCAA West Region opponents, all while averaging 78.7 points per game. The loss drops NNU to 1-3 on the season.
 
West and Brunk were the driving forces behind efficient PLNU offensive and defensive efforts. West went 8-of-10 from the field, and 2-of-2 from the 3-point line. She also had four of the Sea Lions' 14 steals. Brunk shot 8-of-12 from the floor and also posted five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Roya Rustamzada led the team with nine rebounds. She also posted 15 points as she just missed a double-double. Anna Viettry had a team-leading four assists.
 
PLNU was ahead 36-29 at halftime and built their lead to as many as 13 points in the third quarter. But NNU would not go away and they put together a 7-0 run to open the fourth quarter to cut the Sea Lions' lead to three (60-57). Brink immediately responded by knocking down a 3-pointer to push the lead back to six and NNU would never get any closer.
 
"Coach Westphal really helped us make adjustments on defense," explained Point Loma sophomore forward Alex Brunk. "We switched to man and we were able to get in the passing lanes much better. We really focused on rebounding because those rebounds are extra possession for us and we can limit the possession of our opponents. Our keys to winning were rebounding and good defense."
 
The Sea Lions shot 54 percent from the field and 42 percent from 3-point range as they never trailed for a second. Meanwhile their defense limited the Crusaders to 35 percent shooting and had 14 steals off 21 NNU turnovers. Lexi Tubbs led NNU with 12 points and eight rebounds.
 
"NNU was a very competitive and methodical team that worked the ball around in the half court and they rebounded very well," Brunk said. "They were a solid team. It was definitely a big challenge for us."
 
The Point Loma women's basketball team got a huge boost from the energetic Homecoming crowd that filed into Golden Gymnasium to support their Sea Lions. The fans sported blowup heads of the players and all wore the 2015 Homecoming shirt.
 
"It is a great environment today with Homecoming, the Green Sea and all the fans," added Brunk with a smile on her face. "They really bring a lot of energy into the gym and we really feed off that."
 
The PLNU women's basketball team will be home again on Tuesday, Nov. 24 when they face Seattle Pacific at 5:30 p.m. SPU, just like PLNU, played in the NCAA West Regional last season and both teams reached the regional semifinals.