SAN DIEGO – The Sea Lions were coming off of a seven-day stretch since their last game when they hosted the Urban Knights of Academy of Art on Saturday afternoon. A lights-out first quarter performance from Sydney Peterson allowed the Sea Lions to grab a big lead out of the gate, her 14 first quarter points helped the team to a 33-19 lead. The stout defense we have seen from PLNU in recent games reared its head in the second quarter, holding Academy of Art to only eight points in the quarter, helping themselves after only managing 13 points in the second. 

The second half proved to be much more competitive as the Urban Knights found more ways to score but the Sea Lions found themselves able to answer each time ARTU managed a small run. PLNU was outscored by three points in the second half mostly due to committing nine of their 13 turnovers after the half. Despite their turnovers in the second half the Sea Lions were able to force ARTU into several of their own turnovers and had 14 steals. Cara Liggins scored eight of her 14 points in the second half to help pace the Sea Lions late. 

Peterson scored 17 of her 25 points in the first half including going 4-of-5 from three-point range in the opening quarter, she would hit seven total threes on the day while also collecting four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Stephanie Williams had yet another great game for Point Loma scoring 13 points to go along with five boards, three assists, and two steals. Rustamzada was instrumental on the defensive end as well grabbing 10 defensive rebounds and swiping a team-high five steals. 

Team Records
Point Loma (13-9, 8-7 PacWest), Academy of Art (6-17,5-10 PacWest)
 
PacWest Implications
The Urban Knights stay in the bottom quarter of the conference with their 5-10 record on the season. The Sea Lions move above .500 once again in conference play and currently would earn one of the last spots in the conference tournament. 
 
The Turning Point
With the Sea Lions down 10-8 with seven minutes left in the first quarter, they went on a 17-2 run to grab a 13-point lead and never looked back. 

Thoughts from Coach Faulkner
On the hot start: "It was nice to see us start off really well. We have struggle to score in the first quarter of a lot of our recent games, so to score 33 and shoot the ball well was great. We had great moments this game, and overall played great basketball."

On being prepared to play against the zone: "We knew that they would play some zone and that they were a little short-handed, they only brought seven players down. I assumed they would mix up their defenses and play a little more zone than we have seen so far this year. WE did a great job with ball movement and that is when we were able to score. When we stopped moving the ball is when we struggled a little bit."

On getting a great performance on both sides of the ball: "This type of play is what we have been preaching over the last month or so, and our defense has really stepped up. I've been impressed with the way we are contesting people, and to hold a team to nine percent shooting and eights points in a quarter is a great accomplishment. Defense is where it all starts and that is what fuels our offense."

On the play of Williams: "I have challenged Steph to guard the best player on the other team, every game she is facing their best scorer and she has done an awesome job. She is very focused on our defensive points of emphasis and she does a great job of using her length to make people shoot over her. She forced Brewster to take 19 shots to get to 16 points, which is a beautiful defensive effort. Offensively she has been so confident, knowing when to attack and when to share the ball, I am so proud of how her game has evolved. She is a player I count on every game to defend and make smart plays on offense."

On staying focused for the next two home games: "We need to keep defending. We will spend tomorrow preparing for NDNU who has gotten some good wins this season, and it will be a big game for us. We are going to focus on that game first and once we get through that game we can turn our focus to Wednesday's game. This is a huge home stand for us and if we can get three wins at home it will give us some great momentum to push through the end of the season."

News and Notes
> With her seven three-pointer made, Peterson is now tied with seven other PLNU alumna for the second-most threes made in a game, the last time this was done was in December of 2013. 
> The Sea Lions lead the nation in total blocks (138) as well as blocks per game (6.6) through their first 21 games of the season, they added another five blocks tonight. 
> Cara Liggins dished out a season-high six assists. 
> The Sea Lions have held four of their five opponents under 65 points. 
> Point Loma scored 38 of their 80 points in the paint. 
> PLNU turned the Urban Knights over 14 times leading to 22 points off of their turnovers.

Up Next
Point Loma is back in action on Monday evening when the Argonauts of Notre Dame de Namur come to town for a PacWest matchup. The women will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. and the men will tip-off at approximately 7:30 p.m.