(SAN DIEGO) In what could be a PacWest Tournament First Round preview, PLNU Women's Basketball battled Hawaii Pacific to the very end before the Sharks prevailed, 67-59, inside a rocking Golden Gym during Homecoming Weekend.
"I loved how we battled tonight," Head Coach
Charity Elliott said. "We just needed to hit a couple of more baskets and free throws. Give credit to HPU. They hit their free throws when they needed to."
Hawaii Pacific made 19-of-23 (82.6%) free throws overall, including 12-of-14 in the final 1:39 when Point Loma was forced to play the fouling game. Those free throws were needed after PLNU made a barrage of 3-pointers down the stretch.
Allie Carreon's triple brought the Sea Lions to within six, before a pair of
Haylee Saurette 3-pointers got PLNU to within three with 28 seconds to play.
But HPU scored the final five points of the game to complete a regular season sweep over Point Loma and end the Sea Lions' six-game winning streak.
"What an amazing atmosphere," Elliott said. "I just wish we could have pulled it out for the crowd, but I can't be disappointed in our effort tonight."
Allie Carreon's triple beat the first-half buzzer to give Point Loma a three-point lead at the break, 27-24, as
Eiley Tippins scored nine of her career-high 15 points in the first half.
"I was really proud of Eiley tonight, who almost had a double-double," Elliott said of the 6-foot-2 freshman forward, who also added nine rebounds.
Ellie Turk's layup to start the third quarter put PLNU up by five, only for HPU to respond with a 13-0 run to go up by eight.
Back-to-back triples from
Shayla O'Neil and
Ellie Turk then brought the Sea Lions back to within two, but each time Point Loma got to within a single possession Hawaii Pacific had an answer, as the Sharks maintained their lead the rest of the way.
Saurette (14 points, 9 rebounds) and Turk (11 points, 7 assists) joined Tippins in double figures.
Maddie Mersch (6 points) brought down a team-high 10 rebounds.
"
Maddie Mersch continues to give us so much energy and hustle plays," Elliott said.
Point Loma (14-13 overall, 12-7 PacWest) concludes its regular season on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., when the Sea Lions host Hawaii Hilo on Senior Night.
PLNU leads sixth-placed Biola by a half-game in the conference standings, as the two teams jockey for positioning in the PacWest Tournament.
