Coming off a superb season last year with a record of 25-6, the Point Loma Nazarene University Women’s Basketball Team is on a roll again. The Sea Lions have won seven games in a row so far this season before falling to Fresno Pacific University to get to an impressive record of 15-5. One of the primary reasons for that success is fourth-year forward Eiley Tippins.
In her first season, she averaged 4.4 points while playing 12.7 minutes per game. Now, in her fourth season, she leads the team in points, field goal percentage and blocks. Tippins’ scoring numbers and most of her baseline stats have improved every season she’s played at PLNU.
“Over the past four years, my confidence has grown with experience,” Tippins said. “Being a senior this year, I can just play freely because I have seen and experienced a lot of moments on the court.”
Tippins was 47.7% from the field in her first season. Meanwhile, she’s shooting the ball at a clip of 61.5% this season, nearly 15% better than when she first started at PLNU.
“As of late, I feel like I am just being very efficient,” Tippins said. “I am finishing the plays that my team is creating and executing on the offensive end.”
Tippins didn’t start playing basketball until 13 years old. She said she was advised to play basketball because of her height, but decided not to for a while until she changed her mind and joined her school’s team.
Soon after starting to play, Tippins joined a club team that traveled around the country. As she fell in love with the game, she realized that playing college basketball was a desire of hers, and it wasn’t until her junior year of high school that she found PLNU.
“I went to a camp and then started getting recruited by the coach’s staff,” Tippins said. “I was invited to go on a visit, and immediately fell in love with everything Point Loma had to offer. I liked the small community feel that the school has, and the team culture was also important to me.”
Upon her arrival, there was one player in particular that she immediately connected with: another first-year forward, Maddie Mersch.
“I feel like we went through so much freshman year together, and that kind of bonds people together,” Mersch said. “To be able to rely on each other in those tough times really built this friendship that I think is going to last forever.”
Another person who was fairly new to the program was Head Coach Charity Elliott and her staff, who were only in their second season at PLNU when Tippins arrived.
“The coaching staff has been a great part of my evolution as a player and person,” Tippins said. “At Point Loma, our coaches care about us as people before being athletes, and I think that’s what’s so special about the whole community.”
Tippins is playing her best basketball right now. She’s averaging 13.9 points per game on the season, but over the last seven games, that number skyrocketed to 19.1, with a high of 25 against both Menlo and Azusa Pacific University. As to why she’s playing so well: her poise, according to teammate, third-year guard Hannah Golan.
“It’s very easy to get carried away in a sport like basketball,” Golan said. “Eiley stays grounded and helps us stay grounded.”
While she’s having the best college season of her career, she’s focused on the bigger task at hand, being regular-season champions and then winning the conference championship.
Despite her clear on-court success, it’s the off-court character of Tippins that Mersch admires.
“I am most impressed by Eiley’s strength,” Mersch said. “She’s someone who could have a bad day, and you wouldn’t even know it … I think that’s what makes a great leader.”
Mackenzie Lackey