HONOLULU - The Point Loma women's basketball team got a career-high 27 points from Alex Brunk and put together a possible season-saving 23-7 run down the stretch to earn the 81-67 victory at Hawaii Pacific (Feb. 25).
 
The win moves PLNU to 18-9 on the season and to 11-8 in the PacWest. Point Loma currently holds the sixth and final spot for the PacWest Championships which will be held Mar. 3-5 in Irvine, Calif. This was also the 596th win in coach Bill Westphal's career. Even with the loss Hawaii Pacific (16-10, 13-6 PacWest) remained in fifth place in the PacWest standings.
 
Brunk reached the 20-point plateau for the third time in the last four games, and the eighth time this season. She was 6-of-13 from the field and 12-of-17 from the free throw line to notch her career-high 27 points. She made seven of those 12 free throws in the final 35 seconds to seal the game for PLNU. The sophomore from Newbury Park, Calif., added three 3-pointers, eight rebounds and three assists.
 
Brunk helped the Sea Lions make more free throws in the game (28) than the Sharks attempted (25). PLNU shot 74 percent from the line during the game (28-of-38) and 45 percent from the field. PLNU limited HPU to just 37 percent shooting and 22 percent from 3-point range (5-of-23).
 
Madison West added 17 points for PLNU. She hit two 3-pointers and helped Point Loma connect on 47 percent of its long range shots. The junior from Pittsburg, Calif., has now hit a 3-pointer in 47 straight games. West's last game without a trey was last season at Hawaii Pacific. Sydney Tonack added 13 points.
 
Breanna Mackenzie helped lead Hawaii Pacific with 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting. In her two games against Point Loma, the PacWest's fifth leading scorer (18.3 ppg), scored a total of 29 points but took 35 shots to get there (10-of-35).  CeCe Pearl also had 17 points, but shot just 6-of-19.
 
The game was close throughout with Point Loma holding a 33-32 lead at the half. PLNU went up 11 in the third quarter with an 8-0 run but HPU tied it up at 56-56 with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. The teams then traded a pair of points before the Sea Lions went on their 23-9 run to close the game. The Sea Lions held the Sharks to 3-of-14 shooting in the final six minutes, while they went 4-of-5 from the field and 13-of-16 at the free throw line.
 
The Sea Lions will close out its Hawaii road trip and its 2015-16 regular season on Saturday, Feb. 27 at Chaminade. The game will tip off at 7:00 p.m. (PST).