SEA LIONS ARE BOUGHT-IN ENTERING NEW SEASON

(SAN DIEGO) PLNU Women’s Basketball made history last season, winning the program’s first-ever PacWest regular season and tournament titles while setting a new NCAA-era program record for wins (25).

However, its NCAA West Regional First Round loss to eventual regional runner-up Central Washington left a sour taste in the mouths of the Sea Lions.

“Last year was history-making, looking back on it for sure, but the way you end kind of leaves how you actually feel about the season,” Head Coach Charity Elliott said. “Losing and finishing the way we finished made it a little more difficult to appreciate the historic year that it was.

“You just try to put that aside, and learn and grow and try to figure out what we need to do better so that we’re better when we really need to be better. There’s no scientific answer for that, so it’s just keep plugging along and focusing on becoming the team that we need to be when we most need to be that team.”

Elliott has noticed a heightened sense of urgency from her players entering the new season.

“This team came in in better shape than any team that I’ve had since I’ve been here, as far as across the board the level of preparation that’s been done,” Elliott said. “We know we left something on the table last year and we don’t want to do that again.”

While the team has NCAA postseason aspirations once again, having made back-to-back regional appearances for the first time, Elliott is enjoying the process along the way.

“We’ve been really mindful of being intentional about enjoying every moment and being present,” Elliott said. “You want to prepare for the end of the year but I also don’t want to miss any of the days that we have with this group. I’m really enjoying the heart, drive and motivation that this team has. There’s really something unique about this group.”

One thing that stands out as unique to Elliott is the team’s level of buy-in and team-first identity.

“We’re all about team basketball,” Elliott said. “We’re not about focusing on one person. We’re about getting the best shot for our team every possession, making the extra pass, giving up a good shot for a better shot. I’ve not had a lot of teams who’ve bought into that as greatly as this team has.

“To me and from the outside looking in, comparing the years that I’ve been here, this is the team so far that’s shown the biggest buy-in and the greatest chemistry.”

RETURNERS

Point Loma’s returners are led by seniors and team captains Eiley Tippins and Maddie Mersch. 

“Eiley and Mersch have been with us from the beginning, and they’ve seen and experienced the growth of the team,” Elliott said. “Their impact on the team is just everywhere. When one of those two speaks, everybody stops talking and just listens because the wisdom coming out of them is amazing and unbelievable.”

Tippins, a 6-foot-2 center, is a two-time All-PacWest selection for the Sea Lions, including last season when she averaged 9.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.

“The ability, confidence and growth within Eiley as a player, I can’t even describe it,” Elliott said. “It’s been almost magical to watch her grow and mature and get so much stronger and more confident.”

Mersch, a 5-foot-11 forward, has combined to make 62 starts across the last three seasons, including last year when averaging a career-high 6.0 ppg.

“You just can’t teach the things that she does, the effort, the hustle, the extra possessions, what she brings to us,” Elliott said of Mersch. “Very rarely is it going to show up fully in the stat sheet. It’s going to be all the other things that nobody maybe sees or recognizes but the group. She’s so incredibly valued on this team and her voice speaks volumes.”

Five-foot-11 guard Hannah Golan has played in 30-plus games in each of the past two seasons for the Sea Lions, showcasing a diverse skillset and an ability to impact both ends of the floor.

“Hannah is playing with a ferocity, a fire and a confidence that we’ve been waiting for,” Elliott said. “She’s so good in transition, one-on-one and defensively, and can do so many things. One exhibition she scores 20 and in another she scores four with 14 rebounds, and she has an enormous impact on the game either way. You won’t find anybody as into the conditioning and the work that goes into being great.”

Five-foot-6 point guard Jocelyn Pascual played in all 31 games last season as a freshman.

“Joc is so tough and has a little chip on her shoulder,” Elliott said. “She plays fearlessly, does all the dirty work, dives, takes charges, gets deflections, all of those things. She can hit shots and get us into our offense.”

Cassidy Bartolotto, a 5-foot-11 forward, is also expected to play a sizable role after redshirting during her first year on The Point.

“Cass has so many skills and so many tools in her toolbox,” Elliott said. “She used her redshirt year just as we’d want her to. She got so much better, so much stronger, so much fitter, all those things, and now we’re just watching her grow and get experience every day right before our eyes.”

NEWCOMERS

Point Loma’s group of incoming players is led by 5-foot-8 junior guard Izzy Navarro, a two-time All-PacWest performer at Concordia and the conference’s Freshman of the Year in 2023-24.

“I’ve been almost blown away by Izzy as a person,” Elliott said. “We all knew what she could do as a player, but she has come in and is building up her teammates and putting them in really good positions to be successful. She sets the tone with our transition and has figured out that our team is going to run, and they’ve figured out that if they run, she’s going to get them the ball.

“For her to be voted as a captain this quickly speaks to her buying in wholeheartedly into our program in every facet, from the things we do off the court to the things we do on the court. It’s all about everybody else and that’s what we need from somebody as talented as she is. She’s going to get the accolades and the attention, yet she’s just taking it in and pouring it out to other people.”

Ruby Vlahov, a 6-foot-3 sophomore forward, played in 31 games at NCAA Division I Saint Mary’s and can stretch the floor, evidenced by her 38.5% 3-point shooting with the Gaels.

“I just know that the Lord has brought the right people to us and Ruby is one of those,” Elliott said. “She’s worked her tail off this past year to get healthy, and she’s been such an incredible addition to our team. She can shoot it and she can score inside. She has a lot of dimensions to her game, but she’s such a great teammate and brings such great energy.”

Maddie Morrow, a 5-foot-9 junior guard, averaged 5.9 ppg over the last two seasons at Academy of Art, while 5-foot-5 junior guard Alyssa Malla played for two years at NCAA Division I San Jose State and most recently at San Jose CC.

“Watching her the last couple years at ART, there was something about her that I always just really liked,” Elliott said of Morrow. “Getting to know her and the strength that she comes in with has been great. She’s a really good shooter.

“Alyssa pressures the ball as well as anybody that I’ve seen in a long time. She’s so team-first. I’m super excited about the dimension she’s going to bring to us offensively and defensively.”

Emma Sales, a 5-foot-10 guard/forward, is the team’s lone freshman this season.

“Emma has been on her own in this journey as a freshman and I love how our team has taken care of her and I love how she has bought into everything,” Elliott said. “She’s fearless. She’ll make mistakes but bounces right back and is ready to go. She’s really special and I think she’ll make a big impact for us this year.”

Elliott is excited by the different options she has at her disposal, despite a smaller overall roster size.

“We just have a lot of different ways we can go,” Elliott said. “We can go small, we can go big, we can go super fast, we can go super defensive-oriented. We have a lot of options with a smaller group.

“We’ve already faced some adversity and lost a couple players we were expecting to have and to use, so we’re just going to be tight and small in numbers, but hopefully mighty in heart.”

SCHEDULE

After a pair of notable exhibition wins, 101-24 against La Sierra and 74-71 versus NCAA Division I Long Beach State, Point Loma officially opens its 2025-26 season at the PacWest/CCAA Conference Challenge in San Marcos.

PLNU will play against Cal Poly Pomona on Friday and Cal State San Marcos on Saturday, before hosting defending national runner-up Cal State Dominguez Hills on Wednesday.

The Sea Lions will then travel to play at Saint Martin’s (Nov. 22) before returning home to host the PLNU Thanksgiving Classic against Western Oregon (Nov. 28) and Northwest Nazarene (Nov. 29).

“We’re just going to try to go one game at a time and understand that everything we’re doing is preparing for the end of the year,” Elliott said. “We’re just trying to get better every day and as great as our exhibition wins have been and we’ve learned a lot, I don’t want those to be the highlights of our year. I don’t want a great preseason to be the best part of our year. We want the best part of our year to be the entire year, from beginning to end.

“Every year, especially the last few years, is how do we schedule in a way that gives us the best opportunity to play in the postseason? You look at our schedule and that’s what we’re doing and that’s what we’ve tried to put in place.”

Despite winning the conference last season, Point Loma was picked second in the PacWest Preseason Poll.

“This conference is going to be really, really good,” Elliott said. “There’s a lot of teams who are going to be battling and fighting. It’s going to be who’s being [the most] consistent and who’s showing up every night.

“We talk about, ‘Our standard is our standard.’ That’s what we’re focusing on. I’ve always been a believer that you focus on yourself, and we’re not going to spend a lot of time focusing on other people and being worried about what they’re doing.”

PLNU will begin PacWest play on Dec. 4 at Jessup and play a 22-game conference schedule before hosting the PacWest Championships March 5-7.

“It’s not even about repeating from last year, this is new and this is different,” Elliott said. “This is a very different group with a very different skillset and mindset from a year ago, and we’re on our new adventure together.”

Point Loma will hope to make a return trip to the NCAA West Regional, March 13-16, with the NCAA Elite Eight scheduled for March 24-28.

For the team’s full schedule, click HERE.