(AZUSA, Calif.) PLNU Women's Basketball raced out to a 13-4 lead against No. 25 Azusa Pacific, but the Cougars weathered that early storm and came back to defeat the Sea Lions, 76-58, on Saturday afternoon.
 
"I loved how hard we came out at the start but we just had too many lapses both offensively and defensively," Head Coach Charity Elliott said.
 
Pont Loma caught fire offensively right from the opening tip, scoring on six of its first eight possessions, with back-to-back Allie Carreon 3-pointers putting the Sea Lions up by nine at the 6:31 mark in the first quarter.
 
APU then finished the opening period on a 15-4 run to take a two-point lead after one, before another Carreon triple to open the second quarter restored PLNU's lead, albeit briefly.
 
From there, the Cougars took advantage of second-chance opportunities to then take a double-digit lead into halftime. APU held a 19-4 lead in second-chance points for the game, with eight of those coming in the second quarter alone.
 
"We gave them too many second opportunities and they made us pay," Elliott said.
 
The home side then scored the first six points of the third quarter to continue its momentum into the second half.
 
PLNU ended the game on a 7-0 run, with five of those points coming from Kate Bobadilla, but it was too little, too late for the Sea Lions.
 
Carreon and Ellie Turk tied for the team-lead with 11 points each. Annika Thayer finished with seven points and seven boards, while Maddie Mersch (six points, eight rebounds) and Haylee Saurette (six points, six assists) contributed in multiple areas of the box score.
 
Elliott highlighted the play of Kylie Hearn (five points, three assists), Mersch and Madison Corder.
 
"I thought Kylie was a huge sparkplug tonight," Elliott said. "Mersch and Corder came in and were fearless."
 
Following two-consecutive road games, Point Loma (4-7 overall, 2-2 PacWest) now returns home to Golden Gymnasium to take on Holy Names on Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
"Time to regroup after finals and try to bounce back at home," Elliott said.