SAN FRANCISCO – PLNU faced a struggling Academy of Art team on Monday night with hopes of bouncing back from a tough loss at Dominican (CA) on Saturday. The Sea Lions struggled offensively to start the game, going 3-of-15 in the quarter. The team trailed 20-11 going into the second quarter before using a 25-point second quarter to give them a 36-30 lead heading into halftime. The team would keep their momentum rolling through the second half, with a 30 point third quarter and a 28-point fourth quarter to take the game 94-62.

After a game at Dominican where the Sea Lions seemed unable to find any offensive rhythm, the team seemed refreshed and recharged from the first minute. Despite missing some easy buckets early, PLNU got their offense going in the second quarter with Liggins sparking the offense with three triples. The team moved the ball well for their second-highest assists total of the season, 22 assists on 35 made field goals. The team scored 52 points in the paint and scored 26 fastbreak points as they continued to push the ball on each possession. The team gave a solid defensive effort as well blocking 11 shots and outrebounding the Urban Knights 51-41, and 39-24 on the defensive glass. 
 
Tayla Hepburn led the way for the Sea Lions with 29 points in 29 minutes played adding 14 rebounds and six assists as well. Freshman Cara Liggins scored a career-high 24 points with four rebounds, going 4-of-6 from downtown and sparking the second quarter surge to take the lead. Roya Rustamzada scored 15 points to go along with 13 rebounds and seven assists for her eighth double-double this season.
 
Team Records
Point Loma (7-4, 2-2 PacWest), Academy of Art (2-11, 1-4 PacWest)
 
PacWest Implications
The Sea Lions are now 2-2 in conference play through the first four games of their tough road swing. ARTU falls to 1-4 in the PacWest just above last place Holy Names.
 
The Turning Point
The Sea Lions defense held the Urban Knights to only ten points in the second quarter allowing them to take a six-point lead into the half, a lead that they would hold for the rest of the game.
 
Thoughts from Coach Faulkner
On finding their offense: "We had phenomenal energy the entire game, that first quarter there seemed to be a lid on the basket and we were missing some easy shots. From the second quarter on we were able to finish those layup and easy shots in the paint that we were missing early. I knew that at some point, if we kept at it, we would be fine and I am very proud of our energy and effort today."

On Tayla's performance: "A lot of those baskets were in transition. We emphasized getting the ball up the court and getting easy baskets in practice the other day and she was the beneficiary of our guards pushing the ball up the floor in transition and she did a great job finishing."

On how this win can help build confidence in the young freshmen: "I think this is the time of year that they start to develop an identity and figure out their roles. There is a big change between high school basketball and college basketball. For Cara, I believe you could see the cloud start to lift. With Sydney, Izzy, and Grace, they are going to get more and more comfortable with more college playing experience. It was fun to see them play well tonight and it was a solid team effort."

On preparing for Dixie State over a 12-day break: "Right now I want them to get a little bit of a break mentally and physically. They will be working out over the break and we will come back and have a couple of great practices before we head to Dixie. I have 100 percent confidence that everyone on this team wants to win and want to perform at their best. We have one final road game before we get some conference home games, it was a very challenging start to conference play but hopefully we can get a road win to give us confidence heading into those home games."

News and Notes
> Hepburn was one-point shy of a double-double in the first half with nine points and 10 rebounds. 
> 10 of the team's 22 assists came in the third quarter alone. 
> Isabel Turk recorded her first double-digit scoring game with 10 points in only 14 minutes played. 
> Grace Brady grabbed nine rebounds and had three blocks in 11 minutes of action.
> With 125 rebounds on the season thus far, Rustamzada now stands alone with the sixth most rebounds in PLNU history. 
> 52 of Point Loma's 92 points were scored in the paint.

Up Next
Point Loma will have a 12-day break before heading back on the road to close out their five-game road swing to begin conference play. They will be in St. George, Utah to take on the Trailblazers of Dixie State on December 30^th at 12:30 p.m.