PLNU Women's Basketball came out on top in its regular season opener against the defending West Region champions, Cal State San Marcos, 92-74, in the PacWest/CCAA Conference Challenge.
The Sea Lions led by as many as 27 points, as they scored their most points in a season opener since 2017-18.
"It's always nice to get the first one under your belt," Head Coach Charity Elliott said. "We saw a lot of improvements from last week and excited to keep building and growing as a team."
The Sea Lions finished the first quarter up 20-14, led by junior guard Kaylee Byon who had six points. PLNU scored nine second chance points in the period compared to the Cougars' two.
Heading into the second period PLNU started off hot, going on a 12-4 run early in the quarter. Alli McDonald led all scorers with 12 points at the break, while PLNU shot 62% from the field in the half.
The Sea Lions held onto the lead the rest of the game and never looked back.
Byon finished with a double-double of 15 points and 10 assists while Tavia Rowell had a game-high of 19 points.
"I thought Kaylee did an amazing job of finding her teammates and putting them in great positions to score," Elliott said. "Tavia did what Tavia does and knocked some big shots down."
McDonald finished with 14 points and is just four shy of joining the 1,000 Point Club for her collegiate career.
The Sea Lions shot 54% from the field and 53% from long distance.
Point Loma (1-0 overall) concludes the PacWest/CCAA Conference Challenge on Saturday against Cal Poly Pomona at 4 p.m.
"We have to keep working on our defensive discipline but overall I'm very happy for this team," Elliott said.
