SAN DIEGO – The Sea Lions hosted the Eagles of Biola University on Thursday losing 61-59. Point Loma jumped out to an early lead and after one quarter of play led Biola 23-9. PLNU would balloon their lead up to as many as 18 before the Eagles cut the lead to 11 heading into halftime. The teams played evenly through the third quarter with the Sea Lions holding a 10-point advantage heading into the final 10 minutes of the game. Point Loma would take a 12-point lead with 6:58 left in the game but the Eagles scored the final 14 points to win by two.
Point Loma leading scorer
Roya Rustamzada was held to just two points on the night on 1-of-11 shooting, but she made her presence known grabbing 14 rebounds on the night.
Grace Brady, after sitting one game out due to injury, came back and put up 14 total points, 12 of which came in the first half and she added four more blocks to her team-leading total.
Stephanie Williams stepped up for PLNU scoring 12 points on 50 percent shooting. She also grabbed six boards, including four offensive rebounds.
Cara Liggins also scored in double digits for Point Loma scoring 13 points and grabbing six rebounds.
Team Records
Point Loma (9-7, 4-5 PacWest), Biola (5-8, 3-5 PacWest)
PacWest Implications
PLNU has dropped their last two conference games to fall to 4-5, their first time under .500 since being 1-2 through their first three games. The Eagles jump up to 3-5 in conference play after starting the season 1-4.
The Turning Point
After taking a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter, the Sea Lions struggled to put together any offensive attack and were held to six points in the quarter. After pushing their lead to 12 with 6:58 left to play, the Sea Lions failed to score for the remainder of the game while the Eagles scored 14 straight points.
Thoughts from Coach Faulkner
On the quick start: "We did a good job of getting the ball inside, Grace had 12 points in the first half, and we were attacking and moving the basketball. I that we are learning and we need to learn to finish basketball games. We need to learn to play with the same intensity at the beginning of the game and maintain it throughout the entire game. Unfortunately we learned the hard way that when you don't, teams are good enough to come back and beat you."
On keeping other teams off of the offensive boards: "We need to do some more box out drills in practice. It is nothing that we haven't emphasized, but I think we have relied on Roya to clean up the defensive glass and we can't expect her to get every defensive rebound. I was really proud of Steph today, I thought she had a great game from start to finish and I'm disappointed that others didn't step up in the same ways that she did."
On what the team can take away from this outcome: "It is about us, how we play as individuals, and how we play collectively as a team. We need to keep our energy and our focus from start to finish. The takeaway should be that you don't get to take plays off and just because you get a big lead doesn't mean the game is over, we should have learned that lesson when we were on the other side of that in the Cal Baptist game. We are young, we are going to get better, and we are going to continue to practice hard and see what happens."
On looking ahead to the game against HPU: "Every day for us is a matter of strengthening our individual skills and us learning to play together and build our toughness. Our practices are going to emphasize those aspects we need to build on. I know HPU is well-coached and they are tough, if we don't show toughness of our own it will be a long day for us. We need to work to get that point across in practice tomorrow and we play hard on Saturday."
News and Notes
> Williams matched her season on in scoring with 12 points.
> Three of the four Sea Lions starters scored in double figures.
> The 18-point lead by the Sea Lions was the largest lead they held in a game that they lost in the past two seasons.
> Brady notched her fifth game with at least four blocks.
> Despite shooting 19 percent from the field in the fourth quarter, the Sea Lions managed to shoot just over 40 percent for the game.
Up Next
Point Loma host Hawaii Pacific on Saturday for a matchup with one of the top PacWest teams. The teams will tip-off at 2 p.m. with the game broadcast on ESPN3.
