(SAN DIEGO) PLNU Women's Basketball showcased its depth on Saturday afternoon, as 10 different Sea Lions scored in a 72-45 PacWest win over Holy Names inside Golden Gym.
Point Loma held a 42-18 advantage in bench points, helping the Sea Lions bounce back from a pair of road losses last week.
"Our bench was a huge contributor from the beginning," Head Coach
Charity Elliott said. "It wasn't like we built this lead and then we played the bench. It was really from the beginning, everybody stepping in and doing their part.
"When your opportunity comes, you have to be ready. I feel like everyone on the bench came in, contributed and stayed within our gameplan. Nobody was trying to do everything. Everybody was playing together and playing with each other."
Elliott lauded her team's focus and energy level after finals week.
"The things that we really talked about today were our focus, our energy level and our communication," Elliott said. "I really think we took some positive steps working on those particular things that we were focusing on.
"Any time after finals is challenging and I thought we responded well."
Shayla O'Neil anchored the second unit and led PLNU with her 12 points, a new career-high for the freshman. She was one of three players to hit multiple 3-pointers, including
Allie Cummings who did so on her birthday.
As a team, the Sea Lions shot an efficient 8-for-19 (42.1%) from 3-point range.
"We played really well together," Elliott said. "We shared the basketball, found our teammates and got a lot of deflections that led to easy baskets."
Another first-year player,
Maddie Mersch, also set a new career-best mark with her 11 points.
Eiley Tippins (seven points, seven rebounds) and
Madison Corder (six points, eight rebounds) helped Point Loma dominate the boards, 43-32, including 13-8 in offensive rebounds.
Corder's five offensive boards proved crucial in the Sea Lions' 19-5 advantage in second-chance points.
"I thought we did a good job of being strong with the basketball and being first to the floor," Elliott said. "We kept it really about us and what we want to do."
PLNU held HNU to just 27.5% shooting for the game. The Hawks' 45 points are the fewest the Sea Lions have given up since Feb. 5.
"We were talking and being very active on the basketball," Elliott said. "We're mixing some things up defensively, trying to keep teams off-balance. I think we saw a little bit of that work today."
With the win, Point Loma (5-7 overall, 3-2 PacWest) moved above .500 in conference play. The Sea Lions have a quick turnaround before hosting Fresno Pacific on Monday at 2 p.m.
"We keep talking about the journey that we're on and every day what we need to do to get better to reach our goals," Elliott said.
PLNU took a step in that direction on Saturday.
