BOX SCORE

ST GEORGE, Utah — The Dominican University of California women's basketball team gave Dixie State College an early scare but foul trouble led to an eventual 82-65 Pacific West Conference loss at the Burns Arena on Thursday night.

In a first half that spanned nearly an hour, Dominican (14-8/10-3) and Dixie State (5-19/2-11) combined for 26 fouls, leading to 43 trips to the free throw line. The Red Storm made the game's first basket but the Lady Penguins took the lead when Shawna Bryant connected with Melissa Wise for the layup. Michaelia Baskerville's off-the-dribble jumper extended the lead to five but Dixie State regained the lead, 28-26, on a Jessie Ingraham three-point play with 5:10 to play. A pair of Bryant free throws tied the game but the Red Storm finished the half on a 20-6 run to head into the locker room with a 48-34 lead.

The third-place Red Storm extended the lead to 20 points by the 15:30 mark and held as much as a 26-point advantage in the second half before the Lady Penguins trimmed the final deficit to 17.

The two teams combined for 62 free throw attempts. Dixie fared better at the charity stripe, making 25-of-35 while the Lady Penguins made just 12-of-27. Despite 24 team fouls, the Lady Penguins managed to force 26 turnovers and held the Red Storm to .388 shooting from the field.

Bryant and Wise each finished with a team-high 14 points while Bryant pulled down a team leading eight rebounds. Baskerville scored 12 points. Alisha Flaaten added 10 points, all in the second half.

Veronica Sequeiros led all players with 18 points for the Red Storm. Ingraham and Deanna Daniels both finished with a dozen points while Johnna Brown added 10 points and seven rebounds. Tanya Clark led all players with 10 rebounds.

The Dominican women now travel to Ariz. to face Grand Canyon University. Tipoff on Saturday, Feb. 27 with the 'Lopes is early at 1:00 p.m./12:00 p.m. Pacific.

Dominican's 2009-2010 basketball schedule, its inaugural season in NCAA Division II, will conclude with home games on Tuesday night, March 2 against BYU-Hawaii, and Saturday night, March 6 against Chaminade University. On March 2, Dr. Ed Kujawa, Dean of the School of Education and Counseling Psychology, and Dr. Marty Nelson, Dean of the School of Health and Natural Sciences, will serve as honorary coaches while the 19-piece Dominican Jazz Band, directed by Mark Culbertson, will perform.