SAN DIEGO - The Point Loma women's basketball team improved to 10-2 in 2016 with a 74-44 win over San Diego Christian on Thursday, Dec. 29.
Four Sea Lions scored in double-figures to lead PLNU to its fifth straight win (10-2, 4-1 PacWest).
Alex Brunk posted her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She took just four shots in the contest (3-of-4) while adding a team-leading four assists, two steals and a block.
Madison West,
Riley Abraham and
Kassidy Gengenbacher all shared the scoring lead with 12 points apiece. Gengenbacher and Abraham each came off the bench to post double-digits and help Point Loma's bench outscore SDC's 32-15.
The Sea Lions' defense came with intensity today and held the Hawks to just 31.3 percent shooting in the game, and 25.0 percent from 3-point range. PLNU built a 31-18 lead at the half, and was up 54-34 at the end of the third before completing the game with a 30-point win, for their largest lead of the contest.
"That is a good team that scores over 70 points a game, so we knew we had to keep them in front of us and make them take tough contested shots," said Point Loma head coach
Lisa Faulkner. "The mistakes stick out to me but when I go back and look at the stats we did a good job holding them to just 44 points."
In addition to its defense, Point Loma was also dominant on the glass as it outrebounded SDC 44-28 and outscored them 20-7 on second chance points.
"Rebounding was something we emphasized pregame," said coach Faulkner. "We know they struggle on the defensive rebounds so our players were crashing the glass, and we did well on the defensive rebounds too."
No student-athlete reached double-figures for the Hawks (11-1, 1-1 GSAC) which were using tonight's game as an exhibition. Shayleen Toehe paced the squad with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting.
"This is the time of the year when you start seeing separation," Faulkner explained. "The really good teams start to click and I feel like we had two really good practices, and it showed in the game today. It was a good game coming back from break and this was one of the most complete games we have played all year and the score reflected that."
This was the final non-conference game of the season for Point Loma. The Sea Lions' next contest will be on the road at Holy Names on Jan. 3 at 5 p.m.
