BOX SCORE

HILO, Hawai'i — With its leading scorer, senior guard Kelsey Janusch, sidelined with a concussion, the Dominican University of California women's basketball team faced an uphill battle in the its Pacific West Conference season opener on Saturday evening. A poor shooting night coupled with early foul trouble led to a 70-56 loss at the University of Hawai'i, Hilo.

With the loss, Dominican falls to 2-9 overall and 0-1 in PacWest action. UHH improves to 5-5 on the season and to 2-1 in PacWest play.

Dominican fell behind early 4-0 and soon trailed 17-5 after allowing an 11-0 run by the Vulcans. Senior point guard Tammy Brawner's drive and layup halted the run but that lead would sustain Hilo through the rest of the game, as the Vulcans built the first-half lead to as large as 14. Dominican pulled within nine points but trailed 40-27 at the break. The Lady Penguins' aggressive defense worked against them in the first half, as the team tallied 12 first-half fouls that saw senior forward Shawna Bryant and junior guard Taki Te Koi on the bench with three fouls apiece and Brawner and senior center Raquel Gomes with two each. Dominican spent the second half chasing after the Vulcans, who took as large as an 18-point lead.

The Lady Penguins shot just 21-of-62 (.339) from the field and 4-of-20 (.200) from deep. They also went 10-of-16 (.625) from the free throw line. UHH didn't need to shoot particularly better, making just 23-of-56 (.411) attempts while going 4-of-10 (.400) from behind the three-point line. They took advantage of their free throw attempts, making 16-of-24 (.833).

Junior forward Hillary Hurley led the Vulcans with a double-double, scoring 13 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Sophomore guard Kirsty Imai also scored 13 points while Hotia Vaaimamao added 10 points. Sophomore guard Jazmine Corpuz added another nine points in the Hilo victory.

Gomes paced all players with a season-high 16 points for Dominican. Sophomore forward Melissa Wise matched a career-high with 14 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Senior center Shelly Clermenco and sophomore guards Stephanie Carnes and Kimi Nakamura each chipped in five points apiece.

Dominican will now travel from the Big Island to Oahu, where they face Chaminade University on Jan. 12, BYU-Hawaii on Jan. 14, and Hawai'i Pacific University on Jan. 16.