SEA LIONS READY FOR YEAR TWO UNDER ELLIOTT

PLNU Women’s Basketball is looking to take the PacWest Conference by storm this year, as the Sea Lions enter their second season under the expertise of Head Coach Charity Elliott.

Elliott, who celebrated 300 career wins last February, led the team to a PacWest Tournament semifinal appearance in her first year with the team. After finishing the 2021-22 season 15-14 overall (9-11 PacWest), the Sea Lions are hungry to earn a postseason bid this year and prove themselves a major force in the conference. 

“I want this team to reach its potential, at the right time,” Elliott said. “There is always going to be some peaks and valleys, but we want to be in a good to great mentality where we are playing our best basketball when it matters the most. And that is at the end of the year.”

Elliott is proud of how her team has shown up this preseason, crediting the leadership in her returners and their dedication to their system.

“One of the most critical pieces in how we are able to start is what did they do while they were gone,” Elliott said. “I think this group significantly came in more prepared, as a whole, than we did in the past. I think that is just because they know what the expectations are, they know what they need to be doing and they know the pace we are going to play.”

PLNU has a significantly younger squad this season, welcoming five freshmen to the Point. While the adjustment has certainly been felt, Elliott has been impressed by how the new members have adapted to the team.

“We brought in some really bright, really high academic, quick learners, and I think their progression has been quicker than maybe what I might have expected,” stated Elliott. “They’ve exceeded my expectations, I think we have several of them that are going to play a significant amount of minutes which is fun.

“We have this group of returners who have a lot of experience, so they’ve done a really good job of bringing our freshmen along which has been fun to watch.”

While the Sea Lions hope to be playing their best basketball in March, Elliott is encouraging her team to focus on the here-and-now.

“They just need to be steady, they need to be dependable,” Elliott said. “They need to stay focused and locked in, and set the tone that every day we have to be ready to fight and we have to be ready to compete. And we can’t take days off. Because if you take days off, you get beat.”

The Sea Lions have team mottos of GRIT and ‘Built for this’ as they look to make strides in year two of Elliott’s tenure.

“We always talk about GRIT: Good to great, Relentless effort, Integrity always, and Team-first,” Elliott said. “Every year we have a theme, and this year our team chose ‘Built for this.’ We are built for hard things, we can do this and together we can do even more.

“That's our theme, that’s what we're trying to really focus on. You have what you need, you’re ready for this, you've put the work in, you have the foundation, so go do what you do.”

The Sea Lions begin the 2022-23 season picked to finish fifth in the PacWest conference. With the PacWest continuing to be a powerhouse for women’s basketball, Elliott is excited for the challenge her team faces this year.

“I just don’t look too much at preseason conference rankings,” Elliott said. “It is what it is. Do we believe we are more than capable of competing for a championship? I think we do. How do you earn that? You earn it by doing the work every day.”

Roster

Point Loma returns nine players, including four starters, and welcomes seven new Sea Lions to the team this season. 

PLNU is led by graduate student Haylee Saurette, who was the second-leading scorer (11.8 points per game) and rebounder (7.1 rebounds per game) for the Sea Lions last season.

“I think Haylee, we have a really high expectation for her,” stated Elliott. “She can score in so many different ways. She’s grown tremendously in her leadership and in her confidence, so we have really high expectations for her.” 

Saurette is accompanied on the floor by fellow returner and starter Alix Henderson. Henderson served as a strong presence on both ends of the floor, leading the team in both field goal percentage (.491) and steals (41).

“Alix is always going to be a smart, consistent director when she is on the floor,” Elliott said. “She is a leader and plays great defense.” 

Junior Ellie Turk will also be stepping back onto the court this season for the Sea Lions. Turk helped set the pace for the Sea Lions last season, making herself known by leading the team in assists (87) and driving the defense.

“Ellie Turk can just turn the jets on and beat anybody to the basket,” Elliott said. “She really does a good job of getting our pace going because she is always sprinting the floor.”

Sophomore Annika Thayer rounds out the returning starters as a powerful presence in the key. Thayer averaged 8.2 ppg and 6.1 rpg in her debut season.

“Annika battles every single day,” Elliott said. “She gets knocked around but gets right back up and keeps going. She worked really hard in the offseason."

Elliott also gives credit to returners Allie Carreon, Madison Corder, Grace Moawad and Kylie Hearn on their leadership and preparation going into the 2022-23 season.

“Allie Carreon has done a tremendous job of acclimating, and she can play the one, two, and three," Elliott said of the junior guard, who led PLNU with 24 points in an exhibition win over Master's on Saturday. "She is also a great passer.”

Elliott added: “Grace Moawad worked really hard this summer and she is always seeming to be in the right spot at the right time. She plays defense, has a nice pull-up jumper and will just do her job.

“Madi Corder is a strong leader and is going to be really solid on the block. Kylie, her leadership on and off the court is unbelievable. She always brings great energy, and pressures the ball. She is leading us as a point guard which is what we need.” 

Sophomore Shayla O’Neil will make her college debut this season for the Sea Lions, after missing the 2021-22 season due to injury.

Elliott is excited to see how the returners will be complemented by this year's incoming talent, which will serve as Elliott’s first recruiting class at Point Loma. 

Of the team’s new players, two are veteran transfers Katie Scott and Tavia Rowell, who will redshirt this season.

They both began their college careers as teammates at Grand Canyon, before Scott continued her career at Oral Roberts and Rowell transferred to Hawaii Pacific. They are now teammates once again as Sea Lions.

“We’ve got our two transfers who are really really tough for our players to go against every day. They are making us better for sure,” stated Elliott. “Tavia and Katie also bring tremendous experience, so the wisdom and the confidence they are bringing to their teammates while they are on the scout team is really hard to replace.”

The transfers are joined by five true freshmen in Maddie Mersch, Eiley Tippins, Kate Bobadilla, Niani Shields and Allie Cummings.

“Maddie Mersch has just come in and gets the game,” Elliott said. “She understands what we are doing. She competes, can bang, can be inside, can shoot the three and has just really done a great job.” 

“Kate Bobadilla, who recently competed for the Filipino U18 national team, plays at a very high level. As she learns, I think she is going to be one that just really significantly improves throughout the year.

“Eiley Tippins has done a really good job as well. Niani and Allie are continuing to learn, grow and compete.”

Schedule

The Sea Lions open non-conference play with three games away from Golden Gym, beginning at the PacWest/CCAA Challenge on Friday against Cal State San Bernardino at 3pm. 

The team will take on Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday at 1 p.m. before traveling to Cal State San Marcos for a 6:30 p.m. game on Tuesday.

PLNU will then return to the Point for its home opener versus Cal State Dominguez Hills on Nov. 19 at 2 p.m.

Point Loma’s non-conference schedule ends with a great test at home in Western Washington on Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. The Vikings, who finished 25-6 last year, are ranked first in NCAA Division II in the D2SIDA Preseason Poll. This will be the first time the two teams meet in the Sea Lions’ NCAA history.

Elliott understands what it takes to compete in a strong conference, and with her first season coaching PLNU under her belt, is no stranger to the tough PacWest schedule.

The Sea Lions begin conference play on Dec. 1 at 5:30 p.m. when they host Academy of Art.

“You can’t lose the games you need to win,” Elliott said. “You have to steal some games on the road, and you have to take care of your home court. I think that’s really critical.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of questions this year, as a lot of teams lost significant pieces. I just think we have to come in and stay focused and locked in on, ‘What do I need to do today?’ Let's just get a little bit better today, narrow your focus, control the things you can control, and when game time gets here, let's go.”