Women’s basketball: Branson grad Golan has Point Loma charging toward title

March is a special time of year for any basketball player, and Novato’s Hannah Golan is no exception as she looks for championship gold with Point Loma this weekend.

Awards season brought some extra fuel to the fire for Golan and her Point Loma teammates, who open the defense of their PacWest women’s basketball title in Friday’s semifinals. The second-seeded Sea Lions (21-7), the tournament hosts, had a first-round bye and will face the winner of Thursday’s contest between No. 3 Azusa Pacific and No. 6 Concordia.

No. 5 seed Dominican University (21-7) took of No. 4 Westmont in Thursday’s opening round for the right to play top-seeded Vanguard (22-5) in Friday’s other semifinal. At stake is not only a shot at the PacWest title, but also a berth in the NCAA Division II tournament.

“I feel with the momentum at Point Loma, yeah, we’re always striving for the championship,” said Golan, who was named to the All-PacWest third team.

Golan, a 5-foot-11 junior guard, leads Point Loma in rebounding, averaging 7.9 boards per game to rank fourth in the PacWest. She also averages double figure scoring (11.3 ppg) on 49.4% shooting, the sixth-best percentage in the conference.

Point Loma’s Izzy Navarro and Eiley Tippins were both named to the PacWest first team, with Ruby Vlahov also on the third team.

Point Loma head coach Charity Elliott has used the term “workhorse” to describe Golan, who helped the Sea Lions surge toward the playoffs with back-to-back wins to finish the regular season. Coming off a season-high 21 points in an overtime loss to Concordia, she scored a team-high 17 points in Point Loma’s 66-53 win over Hawaii Pacific, and then 12 points in a 67-58 victory over Westmont.

“I just circle back to controlling what I control,” Golan said on Feb. 26. “These games, every shot matters… I’m (focused on) doing the little things to try to help our team.”

Golan, who helped lead the Branson School to the CIF State Division IV title in 2022, hoisted the PacWest Championship trophy in front of her family and hometown fans last year, with Point Loma’s 58-51 victory over host Dominican University. She scored 11 points in that game and sparked the Sea Lions on an 11-0 fourth-quarter comeback to clinch the title.

The Sea Lions’ standout scored 16 points in a 80-74 loss to Dominican in San Rafael, then racked up 18 points in a 86-69 win over Menlo in Atherton during a tour of the Bay Area to start 2026.

Golan has aways played with a smart, hard-driving style that few teams can account for. While she is a dominating presence in the paint, she is also a scoring threat from anywhere on the court as a 33% shooter from beyond the arc. She is also second on team in assists (67) and steals (50).

“I always wanted to play college basketball, and I think this is a great program, and a great location,” Golan said. “We’ll see what happens in the future, but I’m excited.”