SAN DIEGO – Fighting through adversity has been a familiar theme for the Sea Lions this season. After losing two of their leading scorers this season, including perennial all-PacWest selection Alex Brunk, the team lost freshman Grace Brady to an eye injury early in the second quarter. With Roya Rustamzada in foul trouble for much of the game, the Sea Lions had to rely on their bench to give them solid minutes throughout the game.
 
Freshman Sydney Peterson led the way for PLNU with 21 points to go along with three rebounds and two assists. Carol Schroeder came up big off of the bench scoring 12 points with eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Rustamzada just missed another double-double with eight points and 14 rebounds while playing through foul trouble for most of the game.
 
The Sea Lions found it difficult to score early and mounting fouls had CBU shoot 11 free throws to PLNU's zero in the first half. Point Loma kept the scoring close in the third quarter but the Lancers were able to add to their lead to go up 13 points after three quarters of play. California Baptist would score first in the fourth quarter to push their lead to 15 points with 8:47 remaining in the game.
 
The defense would play a huge factor for PLNU as they held the Lancers to only four points over the next eight minutes. The Sea Lions went on a 23-4 run in those eight minutes taking the lead on a Peterson three-pointer with 1:56 left in the game and capped off the run with a three from senior Stephanie Williams with only 43 seconds left to play. The Lancers were able to convert a couple of late shots, but Point Loma was 4-of-4 at the free throw line in the final seconds to seal the victory.
 
Team Records
Point Loma (9-5, 4-3 PacWest), California Baptist (7-7, 4-2 PacWest)
 
PacWest Implications
PLNU is once again over .500 in the PacWest standings after playing one of the toughest schedules to open the season. CBU is 4-2 in PacWest play with their only losses coming at the hands of the Sea Lions.  
 
The Turning Point
The 23-4 run in the fourth quarter, propelled by the Sea Lion defense, changed the game and put all of the momentum in favor of Point Loma.  

Thoughts from Coach Faulkner
On her team's resiliency: "I cannot say enough about how this team has bonded together and battled through so much adversity. To get down by almost 20 to a team that is really good and battle back the way we did is amazing. It is so fun to be a part of this group, they are a special group and they really believe in one another. At no point during the game was there a negative energy on the bench, they stayed positive and it made a huge difference."

On the bench contribution: "It literally took everybody today, everybody gave us amazing minutes. Carly Raley gave us five really tough minutes against an all-conference player, she battled, got to the free-throw line, and scored a couple of points. Izzy and Carol each hit a couple of big threes and brought great energy off of the bench. Yuendie also hit a big three, everyone's minutes tonight were so valuable. It shows how we are gelling together and working together and how we all need each other. It was a complete team effort."

On the regular season sweep over CBU: "After last season it feels very good. It is always a great battle with them, [Coach Olson] does an awesome job with his team. They are very well coached, it is a great program, so it is just a great win for us. 

On the late game defense: "Because of some of our lineups and mismatches we were mixing our defenses a lot. It is hard as an offensive team to get into a rhythm when a defensive team shows several looks like that. It seemed like they had some struggles finding their offense through those varying looks. They missed some shots they would usually make and sometimes that's what basketball is, the ball has to bounce your way. We did a good job of rebounding and finishing plays."

On how this win can help the team moving forward: "I hope it gives us some confidence, especially some of the players who hadn't gotten quite as many minutes earlier in the season. With Roya in foul trouble tonight some other players had to step up and make plays and they were able to do that. I hope we can build off of that and if we continue to play hard like we showed tonight we can be a pretty good team."

News and Notes
> Sydney Peterson's 21 points are a career-high. 
> Rustamzada currently ranks 5th in the NCAA for rebounds per game at 11.9
> This is the first season sweep over CBU since the 2009-10 season when both schools were still competing in the NAIA. 
> The 27 bench points were the highest for PLNU in conference play this season. 
> The nine made threes tonight were second only to the Sea Lions homecoming game (11). 

Up Next
The Sea Lions head to Fresno to take on the Sunbirds of Fresno Pacific University on Monday and the team will be back at Golden Gymnasium on Thursday when they host Biola, both games will be at 5:30 p.m.