IRVINE, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's basketball team's historic season came to an end on Friday night with a 70-63 loss to No. 18 Azusa Pacific in the PacWest Championships Semifinals.

After a back-and-forth first quarter that saw the two teams tied 18-18, fifth-seeded Dominican (18-11) grabbed the lead on an an Allyssa Weatherd layup. Dominican led the entire second quarter and pushed the lead to as large as nine. However, Azusa Pacific (26-3) never let the deficit grow to double digits and Kelly Hardeman's three-pointer before the half kept Dominican's halftime lead to six, 40-34.

The third quarter saw a three-and-a-half minute scoring drought by both teams but Azusa Pacific cut the lead to 49-46 by the end of the period. Taylor Donnot committed a foul on a pass but the subsequent three-pointer off of the pass was counted, which capped an 8-0 Cougars run to give them a 54-49 lead. Dominican tied the game again, 54-54, with seven minutes to play but never regained the lead. The Penguins went just 3-of-11 with three turnovers in the final five minutes.

Weatherd led Dominican with 21 points and nine rebounds in her final college game. The All-PacWest First Teamer finishes her career with 1,038 points and as the first Dominican player in the Division II era to reach 1,000 points and did so in just two seasons. She's the program's career leader (DII era) in points, scoring average, field goal percentage, free throws made and attempted, rebounding average, and minutes. She set the single-season mark for scoring average (19.8 ppg) and total points (575). Weatherd was named to the PacWest Championships All-Tournament Team.

Taylor Donnot added 16 points and five rebounds. Alanna Scott added eight points and Ashley Sorensen and Carly Holobke each had six points. Sorensen had five blocks, and nine of Dominican's blocks came in the first half. That helped Dominican limit Azusa Pacific to 25.0 percent (12-of-48) in the first half but the Cougars repaid the favor in the second half and limited the Penguins to just 24.0 percent (6-of-25).

Five Cougars reached double digits, led by 15 from Miriam Zabinsky. Cydnie Jones added 11 points and 11 rebounds. Kelly Hardeman, the PacWest Player of the Year, scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Allison Greene and Joelle Tampien each added 12 points apiece.

Dominican finishes the season at 18-11, the Penguins' best-ever mark in the Division II era. Thursday's win over HPU was also Dominican's first PacWest Championships win and the 400th career win for Head Coach Tim LaKose, who has turned the program around with a 31-23 record over the past two seasons.