SAN DIEGO – Point Loma looked to bounce back from a tough loss at Biola earlier in the week, with the Vulcans of Hawaii Hilo in town on Saturday afternoon. The Sea Lions brought their defense in the first quarter, holding the Vulcans to only seven points. Hawaii Hilo got a great push in the second quarter though, scoring 22 points and taking a three-point lead into the half.
 
Allie Navarette lit up the Sea Lions for 21 first half points on her own, but Point Loma was able to lock her down in the second half, allowing her only two points in the last 20 minutes. After pushing their lead to seven early in the third quarter, the Sea Lions battled back and forth with the Vulcans and ultimately it was the PLNU defense that allowed them to secure the win.
 
Roya Rustamzada led the way for Point Loma with her 16^th double-double scoring 23 points to go along with 10 rebounds and four assists. She also led the team defensively with four blocks and four steals. Grace Brady had a nice game with 14 points and seven boards, as well as a block and a steal.

Team Records
Point Loma (16-10, 11-8 PacWest), Hawaii Hilo (6-15, 4-14 PacWest)
 
PacWest Implications
The Vulcans have been eliminated from contention for the PacWest conference tournament but made a significant push to try and keep Point Loma from getting in. The Sea Lions, now 10-8 in PacWest play, must win their final game over Dixie State in order to secure themselves a place in the field of six teams for the conference tournament.   
 
The Turning Point
Down by three going into the half, Point Loma came out in the third quarter on a 10-0 run that gave them a seven-point lead. While the Vulcans would come back to tie the game once, the Sea Lions never ceded the lead in the second half.  

Thoughts from Coach Faulkner
On getting a win despite the team not playing at their best: "I said after the game that sometime you have to win ugly. It wasn't a pretty basketball game, we did not play our best. I don't know what caused it, we practice well and we have had great practices the last two weeks. What we see in practice has not been reflected in how we have played in games this week, but we were able to pull out the win today."

On how this type of game helps the team to grow: "The last two games, the loss to Biola and this win, have been good learning games for us. We haven't had a ton of close games this season and with a young team and limited personnel, we haven't been able to practice those situations as much as we would like. The Biola game was close at the end and we were unable to do what we needed to in order to win. Tonight the game was close and we were able to execute to secure the game."

On Roya's performance: "She was phenomenal. We actually switcher her on to Navarette, who had 21 points in the first half, and she shut her down. Navarette only scored two points in the second half and that was all credit to Roya's defense. She took it upon herself to stop her and she came up big for us. Both of our seniors have been battling to keep their season alive and you can see the sense of urgency on their face and they way they are playing. Roya has been phenomenal all year but today she was special."

On the plus-10 turnover margin: "We mixed our defenses a little more today and tried to put more pressure on them. We kept our hands up and active allowing us to get some tips and steals while taking good care of the basketball on our end. They try to slow the game down on the defensive end, so they didn't put as much pressure on us and we did a good job of not having unforced turnovers."

News and Notes
> Roya Rustamzada has tied both the PLNU and PacWest all-time rebounding records after grabbing 10 rebounds in the game.
> PLNU outscored the Vulcans 32-22 in the paint.
> With a win over Dixie State next Saturday the Sea Lions can seal their postseason berth. 
> After scoring 21 in the first half, Navarette was held to onlny two second-half points.
> Sydney Peterson scored six of her eight points at the free throw line. 
> UHH was held to 27.3 percent shooting in the first quarter, going 3-11 from the field.

Up Next
Point Loma closes out their regular season play with a home game next Saturday, Feb. 24, against Dixie State at 2 p.m. Come out and support your Sea Lions as they celebrate their Sea Lions in their final home game!