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SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's basketball team made it a thrilling end to the first night of the 2014 Pacific West Conference Championships. The No. 5 seeded Penguins rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half against No. 4 seeded Dixie State but the Red Storm would hit a desperation three-pointer to force overtime and eventually take the final decision, 99-86.

Dixie State (14-13) established an early 11-3 advantage and led 37-27 by halftime. A Kaylah Miller layup capped a 7-0 Red Storm run to open the second half that gave DSU a 44-27 lead, its largest of the night. Then, the unthinkable happened.  Senior Salonika Quewon-Owens, looking to extend her career, drew a foul at the other end to get to the free throw line. The Penguins' leading scorer, who had just one point in the first half, would draw eight more fouls by herself. That aggressive play sparked her teammates and allowed the Penguins (9-18) to unleash a barrage of three-pointers after going 0-for-5 in the first half.

It was an entirely different team in the second half as the Penguins closed the gap by shooting 47.2 percent (17-of-36) in the final 20 minutes of regulation. Quewon-Owens cut the lead to eight with nine and a half minutes to play when she drove to the hoop unguarded. Freshman Carly Holboke did the same a few trips later to cut the lead to 61-56 and the Penguins clearly had the momentum. Even a Haley Holmstead jumper didn't slow them. Jade Castro found Ashley Sorensen off an inbounds for the layup to keep the deficit at five and after a Taylor Mann traveling violation, Castro launched a step-back three at the top of the key to cut the DSU lead all the way to a single bucket. With 6:11 to go, Quewon-Owens pulled up from deep and nailed a three to give the Penguins their first lead since the opening minutes at 64-63. The lead grew to six with under a minute to go.

Yet, the Penguins' youth resulted in costly mistakes. The Red Storm had a second-chance layup and stole an inbounds pass, then converted that turnover into a three-pointer. Missed free throws haunted the Penguins all night long, as they went unable to capitalize on the 65 total fouls that saw three DSU players and two Dominican players exit with five fouls. Dominican shot just 28-of-47 (59.6 percent) on the night and could have had more in 1-and-1 situations. That left the door open for the Red Storm and with 1.7 seconds on the game clock, Taylor Mann came up with the long offensive rebound and heaved a desperation three-pointer. The ball banked in to force overtime. Mann, the Red Storm's center, entered the game having shot just 1-of-9 from deep on the season. The Penguins went cold in the extra period and were outscored 19-6.

Quewon-Owens finished with 18 points but the All-PacWest Honorable Mention went 7-of-16 at the free throw line. Holboke ended her rookie campaign with 17 points, including two big three-pointers in the second half. Senior Jasmine Cox scored 15 points for the Penguins before exiting with six minutes to go in regulation with a knee injury.

Five Dixie State players reached double digits. Holmstead led all players with 28 points, which included a perfect 12-of-12 at the free throw line. Mann finished with 22 points, 18 rebounds, and five blocks.

"Right now it hurts, of course to go out like this, but honestly that was pretty much our season right there. Go down by 17, fight super hard, get up, takes a miracle to send it into overtime," said Dominican Head Coach Brianna Chambers. "I'm very proud of these young ladies."