AZUSA, Calif. – Point Loma faced the first place Azusa Pacific Cougars on Monday night looking to hand the Cougars their first conference loss of the season.
Cara Liggins led all scorers with 22 points but it wasn't enough as APU moved to 9-0 in PacWest play with the 86-72 win.
Azusa Pacific took control of the game early, leading by eight points at the half. Point Loma was able to cut the Cougar lead to as few as five points in the second half, but APU seemed to have an answer for every PLNU run. The Cougars used an advantage on the offensive boards and steals to outscore the Sea Lions on second chance points (20-13) and points off of turnovers (20-9).
Haylee Saurette gave Point Loma a big surge off the bench, going 5-of-5 to start the game and finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, and two assists.
Carol Schroeder had another solid scoring effort putting up 16 points to go along with three rebounds and two assists.
Grace Brady had a solid outing as well with six points, six rebounds, and five blocks.
Team Records
PLNU (6-9, 5-4 PacWest), APU (12-3, 9-0 PacWest)
PacWest Implications
The Sea Lions drop to sixth place with their 5-4 record while the Cougars remain the lone unbeaten team in PacWest play.
Turning Point
The Cougars went on a 15-4 run spanning from the end of the third quarter to the beginning of the fourth to take their six-point lead to a 17-point lead and put the game out of reach for the Sea Lions.
Thoughts from Coach Faulkner
On defending the three: "We had a few mistakes defensively that allowed them to get some open threes. In the second half it was really just us trying to be aggressive and showing them some different defensives and they hit some threes on us. We were so close to getting steals, but if you go for the steal good teams will make you pay. We needed to limit some of the mistakes that we made."
On what they could improve: "The biggest thing for us this game was giving up offensive rebounds. We gave up 20 second chance points and they earned 20 points off of turnovers, if we had taken care of those two things it would be a whole different ball game. You can't give good teams second opportunities and they made us pay when we did."
On Saurette's performance off the bench: "Haylee had a great game and she had a couple great practices this week that showed in the game. She is somebody that is a consistent shooter and she adds a new dimension for us. Carol and Haylee both gave us great energy today crashing the boards and made great plays offensively."
On the upcoming Hawaii trip: "It's a great trip for us. The last two years it has been a great trip to bond as a team. We are playing good basketball right now. WE need to limit our mistakes, it would have been a whole different ballgame today if we had. HPU is a good team, well-coached, they are going to be tough. Chaminade and Hilo are going to play hard and if we could get the sweep it be huge coming back home. We still have Dominican and Fresno at home, there is a lot of season left to be played and I think we are getting better."
News and Notes
> The 22 points from Liggins was a season-high.
> Saurette bested her career-high point total of 11 against Holy Names with her 15-point effort tonight.
> With her 16-point performance,
Carol Schroeder turned in back-to-back double-digit performances for the second time in her career.
> This is Brady's fourth performance with five or more blocks in a game.
> APU had five players score in double-digits.
Up Next
Point Loma has a week to prepare before they head to Hawaii for their three-game trip to the islands. The Sea Lions will start their trip against Hawaii Pacific on January 15 at 6:30 p.m. PST.
