OAKLAND - It did not come easy, but the Point Loma women's basketball team found a way to extend their winning streak to six straight with a 58-49 victory over Holy Names on the road on Tuesday, Jan. 3.
Roya Rustamzada registered her seventh double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds to pace the Sea Lions, who are now 11-2 on the season and 5-1 in the PacWest. The loss drops HNU to 1-11 on the year and to 1-5 in the PacWest.
The key to the victory was Point Loma's ability to get to the free throw line, and keep Holy Names off it. The Sea Lions went 18-of-28 at the free throw line outscoring the Hawks, who only had nine attempts in the entire game, by 12. This was especially significant on a night in which Point Loma was just 2-of-19 from 3-point range.
The Sea Lions defense also came to play. It held HNU to 34.5 percent shooting in the game and to 5-of-16 from 3-point range. PLNU had seven more offensive rebounds, and outscored Holy Names 14-8 on second chance points.
"I thought we did a good job of persevering in this game," said Point Loma head coach
Lisa Faulkner. "It wasn't pretty at times but we did what we needed to do defensively and made free throws down the stretch. That was the difference in the game."
Rustamzada was also a key down the stretch both offensively and on the offensive glass. In the fourth quarter alone she grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds, registered two steals, two assists, a block and scored six points.
"I made a comment in the locker room after the game that when (Roya) plays like that she is really special," said Faulkner. "She is a double-double machine and has been special for us all year. She definitely has the 'it-factor' and I hope she continues to play like that because it elevates our entire team."
Rustamzada was joined in double-figures by
Alex Brunk and
Kassidy Gengenbacher, who had 10 points apiece. Brunk was 7-of-10 from the free throw line and also hauled in six rebounds. Gengenbacher also had six rebounds and three assists.
Garysha Youngblood paced Holy Names with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Point Loma will play at Dominican on Thursday, Jan. 5 at 4:30 p.m. to close out their 2017 Bay Area road trip.
