FRESNO, Calif---The Point Loma Sea Lions (12-7 overall, 8-4 PacWest) put on a clinic while cruising to a 71-50 win over the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (5-8 overall, 2-6 PacWest) Thursday night at the Special Events Center.

Stifling defense and excellent rebounding helped Point Loma lead wire-to-wire en route to a key conference win that keeps them cruising in conference play.
Point Loma grabbed the early lead in the opening minute and didn't relinquish it.

"We just keep taking steps forward." Point Loma Head Coach Charity Elliott said. "We're just trying not to go backwards. We just want to make every single game, possession, quarter and be our best. We're still making our mistakes but our trajectory is up."

The Sea Lions were more than effective from the field, shooting 50% in the first half behind a balanced effort that included 10 points in 13 minutes from Izzy Turk who knocked down a pair of three's.

Cara Liggins continued her stellar play by adding 8 points and 6 rebounds in the first half, pushing Point Loma's lead to as much as 10.

The Sea Lions did struggle from deep and at the free throw line in the first half. Outside of Izzy Turk, Point Loma combined to go 1-6 from deep, but overcame the sole deficiencies with a great night on the glass.

The other three came from the returning Allie Carreon who halted an FPU run near the end of the first half as Point Loma held a 40-32 lead into the break.

Liggins carried the workload from there as she had 15 points and 9 rebounds by the end of the third quarter. Carreon and Thayer were also into double-figures by the end of the period.

"Cara has bought in 100% with what we've asked her to do." Elliott said. "All of her buy-in is turning into easier shots. She's worked very hard on her finishing. She is just taking it and running with it. I was so proud of her tonight. She brought this mentality tonight of "we have to finish this thing'. She was talking during timeouts, talking, communicating. Its exactly what you need from your senior leader."
Madison Corder joined the double-figure party as well, finishing with 12 points. In all Point Loma had five scorers in double-figures.

"What Madi Corder and Annika did was huge tonight." Elliott said. "Finishing around the rim, rebounding and transition. Those two were a 1-2 punch and really doing some good things that put us in position to win."

However, it was the defensive end that Point Loma really shined. The Sea Lions held Fresno to 25% from the field for the game. The Sunbirds had one player with 19 points but only three other players registered multiple field goals and all but one FPU player shot under 50% for the game.

With all the forced misses, Point Loma grabbed 70% of FPU's missed shots and finished with a very healthy +12 margin on the glass.

"Madi Williams is doing everything we're asking of her and then some." Elliott said. "Defensively we're asking her to do a lot. She gave us four extra possessions just diving on the floor. Her energy is contagious."
 
Point Loma's extends their winning streak to four games while picking up their first win at Fresno in three tries, since December of 2016. The 21-point margin is the largest win for the Sea Lions since 2017 in San Diego when Point Loma won by 36.

The Sea Lions will head further north on Saturday to complete their road-trip against Holy Names in Oakland. Tip is set for 11:00am.