SAN DIEGO - Sydney Tonack didn't make the start, yet she had perhaps her best game of the season, as she recorded a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds to help the Point Loma women's basketball team cruise to an 82-44 victory over Fresno Pacific on Monday, Jan. 9.
 
The Sea Lions have now won eight straight games to improve to 13-2 on the season and to take sole possession of second place in the PacWest standings (7-1). The loss drops FPU to 4-11 on the season and to 1-6 in the PacWest.
 
Tonack went 4-of-6 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line en route to posting her PacWest season-high for points. She was one of four Sea Lions in double-figures. Alex Brunk led all scorers with 19 points. The junior forward went 9-of-12 from the charity stripe and also added eight rebounds. Madison West and Kassidy Gengenbacher posted 15 points apiece. Roya Rustamzada led the Sea Lions with four assists to go along with her eight points and nine rebounds.
 
"The nice thing about this team, and why I love coaching them, is that we have plenty of student-athletes capable of putting up big numbers any given night," said Point Loma head coach Lisa Faulkner. "We have a lot of versatility and players that can attack in many ways.
 
"Also they don't care who does it," continued Faulkner. "They are all pulling for each other, and no one is upset that they don't hit their average because we win by 38. That is when a team becomes special; when no one cares about their stat just about whether we won or not."
 
The game was never much in question as Point Loma opened the first quarter with a 21-4 advantage and won every quarter thereafter. PLNU was up 41-16 at the half and 65-28 after three quarters.
 
"It opens up some things when you get a lead like that but for us it is how we play, not about what the scoreboard says," explained Faulkner. "They were trying to get out and pressure us full court, but we handled it really well and were able to get out and get layups. We are going to get everyone's best shot, we are expecting that and we are just going to have to learn to handle it. Tonight we went and did our thing and took care of business."
 
The Sea Lions dominated the glass all evening, outrebounding Fresno Pacific 47-25. PLNU had more defensive rebounds (35) than the Sunbirds had total rebounds (25). That helped Point Loma outscore FPU 48-22 on points in the paint and 18-5 on second chance points.
 
"We have done a very good job of defensive rebounding. It has been a huge focus of ours and we have been doing it well. We knew we could control the boards this game, and we did a good job attacking the glass."
 
Point Loma will put their winning streak on the line this Saturday, Jan. 14 against Dixie State in a 2 p.m. tipoff. This will continue the Sea Lions' homestand, which includes seven of its next eight in Golden Gym.  
 
"It is awesome to be home and not have to be on the road traveling," said Faulkner. "This stretch is a nice home stretch for us, and we go on the road once, but otherwise we get to sleep in our own beds, focus on our school work and get back into a routine. It is nice to get into a rhythm and we had great fans today, and I hope they keep coming out. Hopefully we can go on a little run here with all these home games."