HONOLULU, Hawai'i---A fresh start for the Charity Elliott Era produced the Point Loma Sea Lion's (5-2 overall, 1-0 PacWest) largest road margin of victory over the Hawai'i Pacific Sharks (4-3 overall, 1-1 PacWest) in a 69-54 win for PLNU's conference opener Thursday evening at the Shark Tank.

It was Point Loma's first win in Honolulu over the Sharks since 2017.

The matchup marked the first trip to the Islands since early January 2020 for the Sea Lions, and Point Loma made itself right at home like it was making up for lost time.

Point Loma raced out to an early lead behind Ellie Turk and Annika Thayer, who split the game's first eight points.

"Before the game, we talked about coming out and punching first." Point Loma Head Coach Charity Elliott said. "I really thought that initial group did a phenomenal  job setting the tone on the the defensive end. And that led to some easy baskets. It was our effort and it was our mindset, right from the beginning."

Turk added a few more free-throws and Cara Liggins joined the scoring party as Point Loma accounted entirely for the first 15 points of the game.

The Sea Lions defense was just as responsible for the start forcing turnovers and stifling the Shark's offense to just two field goals in the first nine minutes. HPU put in a buzzer-beating layup, but Point Loma held a 25-7 lead at the end of the first quarter after limiting the Sharks to an 11% field-goal percentage in the period.

Hawai'i Pacific was determined to dig out of the hole, starting the 2^nd period on a 10-5 run, before Point Loma regained control.

The Sea Lions closed the half with a slight advantage to hold a 38-23 lead into halftime.

Liggins asserted herself at the beginning of the third quarter with three baskets, including a three and transition layup, pushing Point Loma's lead to 20.

Turk added a three and a layup as Point Loma grew its lead to 25, forcing a HPU timeout.

Point Loma closed the third quarter leading 59-37. The Sea Lions shot 57% from the field for the period.

The Sea Lions then took care of business over the final ten minutes to seal the win.

While it was the Sea Lions first win at HPU in three tries, it marks Point Loma's largest road win over the Sharks in program history. The largest margin of victory over HPU for Point Loma is a 64-48 win in 2016 back at home in San Diego.

Liggins led with a game-high 16 points and 12 rebounds, her second double-double in as many games. Alix Henderson finished with 14 points and Ellie Turk finished with 12. Thayer rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.

"To be honest with you, Cara Liggins was not going to lose this game." Elliott added. "That was her mentality and that's how she set the tone on the floor and I think everyone else tried to match her energy and intensity."

Point Loma will stay in Honolulu as it continues the island tour with its second PacWest game of the year on Saturday against Chaminade at 3:00pm (PT).