AZUSA, Calif. – Coming off of a 25-point win on Friday the Point Loma women's basketball team faced a much different game on Saturday afternoon. Facing a tough Broncos team from Cal Poly Pomona, the Sea Lions battled to 77-67 victory to start the season 2-0. PLNU would have a slight edge after one quarter, up 22-20, and were able to get the lead to three at the half, up 35-32. The Broncos were able to keep the game close but the Sea Lions still had the edge after three quarters, leading 50-48.
Cal Poly Pomona cut Point Loma's lead to 52-51 with 6:33 left in the fourth with Point Loma responding with a 15-4 run, pushing the lead to 12 with 2:08 left. The Broncos attempted to make a late run but were never able to get within less than five points. The Sea Lions made key free-throws down the stretch and secured the victory.
Freshman
Cara Liggins was a huge force for Point Loma in the first half, scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds through the first 20 minutes of play.
Alex Brunk would pace all scorers with 21 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 3-of-3 behind the arc.
Roya Rustamzada had another solid performance for the Sea Lions scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 boards, she was perfect from the free-throw line going 6-for-6.
Team Records
Point Loma (2-0), Cal Poly Pomona (0-2)
The Turning Point
With six and a half minutes left the Sea Lions went on a 15-4 run to grab their largest lead of the game. Despite a tough comeback effort from the Broncos, PLNU sank important free-throws to keep their lead and secure the victory.
Thoughts from Coach Faulkner
On the tough nature of the game: "I think both of these games this weekend we got better, I told the team after this one that it was nice to play in a close game and play a contrasting style. They have a couple of really big inside players and they are very physical. For us to be able to play against that, play in a close game, and come out on top, it was really great for us."
On being able to pull away in the fourth quarter: "It was more a matter of staying composed and getting some easy baskets. We didn't attack the paint as well in the first three quarters. Well, in the first quarter we actually did a good job, but then we went away from that, settled for some shots and once that fourth quarter hit we actually attacked them a little bit more. We were able to do that by getting stops and rebounds."
On giving up 21 offensive rebounds: "We knew that was one of their strengths, offensive rebounding, because of their size. We did a much better job in the fourth quarter of keeping them off the glass. We are going to have to continue to be physical…it's something we work on every day and I know that we will get better at it."
On the early season leadership of Brunk and Rustamzada: "You know it's great having two veteran, senior players who know how to grind out tough wins. Brunk really stepped up today, when we needed some offense, she gave us some offense. Roya is always very consistent, both on the offensive end, getting rebounds, and playing really smart basketball. It helps settle some of our young players and again, it's nice to have them out there, I know I can rely on them and we are only going to keep getting better."
News and Notes
> The Sea Lions shot 83.3% as a team from the free-throw line.
> This marks the third straight season the team has started at least 2-0.
> Tayla Hepburn went 6-of-8 from the field for 16 points as the team's second leading scorer.
> Both teams scored 13 points off of turnovers.
> The Broncos bench outscored the Sea Lions bench 20-9.
Up Next
The Point Loma women's basketball team will open up their home schedule on Tuesday, Nov. 14
th when they host Cal State East Bay at 5:30 p.m.
