SAN DIEGO – The Sea Lions were in need of a win on Saturday afternoon in order to seal their trip to the PacWest conference tournament. While it looked like the game was in favor of Dixie State early, Point Loma used defense and a flurry of scoring in the second and third quarters to earn a 79-68 win.
 
The Trailblazers got out to an early lead in the first quarter while Point Loma struggled to find their offense and trailed 17-11 heading into the second quarter. Freshman, Sydney Peterson came alive in the second quarter scoring 16 of her 22 points in the frame. The Sea Lions were able to put up 31 total points in the second quarter that allowed them to take a 42-41 advantage into the half.
 
The game turned around when PLNU was able to hold the Trailblazers to only seven third quarter points while in turn putting up 23 of their own. The Trailblazers made a small push to get back into the game in the fourth quarter, but the 17-point lead heading into the quarter was too much for them to overcome. The Sea Lions were able to get scores or stops each time Dixie State tried to build off of a run and secured a huge victory ensuring their place in the PacWest tournament next weekend.
 
On a day to celebrate the career accomplishments of the senior players, both Roya Rustamzada and Stephanie Williams had standout games for the Sea Lions. Rustamzada notched her 17^th double-double on the season with 11 points and 15 rebounds, she also dished out five assists and had two steals. Williams was the second leading scorer for Point Loma with 15 points as well as grabbing five rebounds. Peterson recorded four assists and four rebounds to go along with her 22 points, and both Cara Liggins and Yuendie Guridi added 10 points for PLNU.

Team Records
Point Loma (17-10, 12-8 PacWest), Dixie State (12-15, 8-12 PacWest)
 
PacWest Implications
Dixie State ends their season 8-12 in the PacWest and has been out of contention for postseason play for some time. The Sea Lions needed a win today to ensure their spot in the tournament, with a win today and Dominican's loss to Fresno Pacific the Sea Lions will hold the 5-seed when they start tournament play next Thursday.
 
The Turning Point
The Sea Lions used their defense to hold the Trailblazers to only seven third quarter points, allowing the team to take a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter and eventually seal the game.

Thoughts from Coach Faulkner
On Roya break the rebounding record: "She has been amazing all year and throughout her career. She is a kid that wants her career to keep going, you could see it in practice all week and in the game today. She had another double-double today, she is a double-double machine, and it is awesome to see her break that record because she is such a big part of everything that we do."

On the play of the seniors: "Steph, I am so proud of the evolution of her game. She is someone I have counted on to be consistent on the defensive end and she did another great job today on one of their best players. She knows when to take shots, knows when the offense is there and when to make the smart pass, and today she took the right shots. Both of them have been great leaders for us and I'm happy that we get to keep playing."

On Sydney's performance: "Syd knocked down a couple of huge threes in the first half and played really aggressive today. She is a big part of our offense, when she is playing well our offense is working. In that first quarter we lacked a little of that aggressiveness, so in the second quarter her being aggressive and coming off of ball screens and getting points in the paint as well as hitting threes was huge. That got us going and we were able to carry that into the second half."

On preparing for the conference tournament: "Going into the conference tournament on a win is huge, but now it's win or go home for the rest of the season. Playing with a sense of urgency and practicing at a high level are important this week. We have had two great weeks of practice and I expect that to continue next week. I think we will be prepared for whoever we face, we know all of these teams well, we have played both Concordia and Cal Baptist twice. Whichever of these teams we face we know the game plan and it's just a matter of executing and playing good basketball." 

News and Notes
> With her first rebound of the game, Roya Rustamzada became the all-time leader in rebounds in both PLNU and PacWest history.
> Peterson has now scored in double digits in six of the Sea Lions' last eight contests. 
> With her five blocks in the game, Grace Brady is now tied for eleventh all-time in PLNU history for total blocks with 81. 
> The Sea Lions went 6-of-10 from three in the first half. 
> The seven points allowed in the third quarter tied a season low for the Sea Lions defense. 

Up Next
Point Loma heads to Riverside next weekend to compete in the PacWest tournament. Stay tuned for details on the tournament and times for the games next week!!