SAN DIEGO - One of the best rivalries in PacWest women's basketball was renewed tonight in Golden Gym as No. 10 California Baptist came into to face Point Loma. The game was tight throughout but a pair of timely 11-2 runs by the Lancers earned them the 78-68 victory over the Sea Lions on Thursday, Dec. 1.
 
This was the opening game of PacWest play for both teams. PLNU is now 5-2 on the season and California Baptist improves to 8-2.
 
Alex Brunk put up her second straight 20-point game as she went 9-of-13 from the field. She matched her season-high with nine rebounds and also added four assists, two blocks and a steal. She scored 18 of her 20 points in the second half.
 
"Brunk is really versatile and we got to see some of that tonight," said Point Loma head coach Lisa Faulkner. "It was nice to see her attack the basket. She did the best with that tonight, and truthfully we needed more of it from other people. She gave up a few offensive rebounds at the beginning of the second half and she responded. Those are the types of games we need her to have, especially against really good teams."
 
Kassidy Gengenbacher posted her sixth straight game in double-figures coming off the bench. She scored 11 of her 13 points in the first half to help PLNU trail just 36-32 at the half. Sydney Tonack also had 10 points and five rebounds.
 
Courtney Nelson led four Lancers in double-figures with 21 points. She was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Cassidy Mihalko (13), Tori Mitchell (13) and Kamille Diaz (12) also got hit double-digits in the scoring column. The difference in the game was CBU making more free throws (14) than the Sea Lions took (12).
 
PLNU led 49-48 with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter, but CBU put together its first 11-2 run to take an eight-point lead into the fourth (59-51). The Sea Lions would cut the lead back to three (67-64) with 3:38 left in the game, but again CBU answered with an 11-2 run, this time to seal the game.
 
"California Baptist is very good, and they have really good players, but so do we," said Faulkner.  "It was a good game but when it comes down to it they made a few more plays.
 
"This was a good test for us," Faulkner continued. "They are a really solid team and we are going to get better from playing a game like this."
 
The Sea Lion will continue PacWest play this week when it heads to Fresno Pacific to face the Sunbirds on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 2:30 p.m.
 
"I am excited to go on the road to play Fresno Pacific and I think we are just going to keep getting better every day," Faulkner added.