Next stretch
The Point Loma women's basketball team will be back in action Thursday night after a much needed five-day break. The team travels to Irvine to face a Concordia team that beat the Sea Lions 78-70 on Jan. 3. This game is set for 5 p.m. tip-off. The Sea Lions will be back home on Saturday, Jan. 20, to host their rival, and conference leader, Azusa Pacific. The Cougars beat PLNU in Azusa and the Sea Lions will look to give the Cougars only their second conference loss when they tip-off at 2 p.m.
Follow along
If you are unable to attend this week's game, or any PacWest games this season, they will all be available for fans to follow on live stats and live video. To access both live stats and live video visit plnusealions.com/gameday.
A look at the Sea Lions
The team has struggled over their last five games going 1-4 and dropping to 4-6 in conference play. Between the injury to Alex Brunk and Tayla Hepburn not returning to the team, they have now lost a combined 36.5 points per game on offense. While the team has gotten great individual performances in a number of games they have still struggled to find their identity as a team because of these losses as well as other minor injuries which have sidelined a couple of other rotation players.
Roya Rustamzada has 11 double-doubles on the season which is tied for fourth nationally among NCAA DII players. She also lead the nation in defensive rebounds per game at 11. Grace Brady, who has stepped into a starting role after the loss of Hepburn, has climbed her way up the national charts in blocks per game. She is currently sitting at 22nd with 2.5 blocks per game, she has had six games with at least four blocks. The team is young, starting three freshman, and they have had moments of greatness, an overtime win in Utah over Dixie State as well as a fourth quarter comeback win over California Baptist have shown their potential, but they need to find their consistency over this last half of the season.
Record watch
Roya Rustamzada has put together an amazing career over her four years with the Sea Lions. She has climbed the record books in multiple categories and is closing in on multiple top 10 lists. Below is a list of her standings in the record books and the next person in front of her.
Career Rebounds: Rustamzada (6th, 882) - 5th, Colleen Planeta (902)
Career Points: Rustamzada (10th, 1316) - 9th, Danielle Phipps (1368)
Career Steals: Rustamzada (5th, 198) - 4th, Christy Stevens (201)
Career Blocks: Rustamzada (10th, 86) - 9th, Sydney Tonack (87)
Career 3-pointers made: Rustamzada (9th, 123) - 8th, Robin Blalock (136)
A look at the Eagles
Concordia currently sits at third in the PacWest standing with a 6-3 conference record. The Eagles are coming off of a tough loss at Biola, but they went on a 4-1 stretch just before that game, including their win over the Sea Lions in San Diego. Concordia boasts the second best scoring defense in the PacWest keeping opponents to an average of 63 ppg. They score 66 points per game, holding just a plus-3.0 scoring margin over their opponents.
The Eagles are led in scoring by freshman center Michaela Vanderklugt who averages 13.3 points and 8.2 rebounds. The team has two other players averaging double-digit scoring, Sopavy Seng (10.9) and Montana Walters (10.5), as the team boasts a balanced scoring effort. Vanderklugt also ranks in the top 10 of the conference for rebounds per game while Walters is fifth in three-pointers made per game.
A look at the Cougars
Azusa Pacific is on a seven-game winning streak with their last loss coming to Dixie State, in Utah, on Dec. 9. Before their trip down to San Diego on Saturday, the Cougars will have to face Hawaii Pacific, currently on a nine-game winning streak, and coming off wins over the Sea Lions and California Baptist. The preseason PacWest favorites are averaging 81.5 ppg, and outscoring opponents by an average of 16.6 points per contest.
Zoe March leads both the conference and the nation in assist to turnover margin at 3.96 while also shooting 43 percent from beyond the arc. APU has three scorers averaging at least 14 points per game with Abbigail Goodsell leading the way with 15.9. Gabrielle Kaiser (14.4) and Savanna Hanson (14.1) round out their top scorers. Azusa also leads the conference in steals per game averaging almost 12 per contest, which ranks 17th nationally.
Next Games
The Sea Lions will head to Hawaii for a pair of games next week. The teams will first face Chaminade on the 25th, tipping off at 7:30 p.m. (PST) Then the teams will travel to Hawaii Hilo to take on the Vulcans Saturday the 27th tipping off at 7 p.m. (PST).
