IRVINE, Calif. – The Dominican University of California women's basketball program's memorable 2016-17 season came to a close on Thursday as the Penguins lost 74-56 to Hawaii Pacific in the quarterfinal round of the PacWest Tournament.
 
Dominican's record settles at 16-12 while HPU moves into a Friday semifinal matchup against Point Loma. This marked the third PacWest Tournament appearance in the Penguins' program history.
 
In Thursday's postseason showdown with the Sharks, junior forward Sandra Ikeora led the Dominican offense with a 34-point and 17-rebound performance. In a sort of passing-of-the-torch moment, Ikeora became the Penguins' all-time points leader in Thursday's game as she passed teammate and senior Carly Holboke.
 
Holboke, a Vancouver, Wash., native, wrapped up her Dominican career with 1,062 points. Ikeora will enter her senior season with 1,080.
 
In Thursday's matchup, the Penguins were outrebounded 56-41 and finished with an 0-for-15 result from three-point range.
 
The tough loss certainly doesn't take away from Dominican's memorable season. The Penguins went 12-8 in conference play and won five of the final six regular season games to secure the No. 6 seed in the postseason.
 
Dominican played even with the Sharks through most of the first quarter on Thursday. The Penguins gained a lead on several occasions, including for the first time at the 5:30 mark when Natalie Diaz sank a jumper to put Dominican ahead 10-8.
 
After HPU seized back the lead, Jade Castro dropped in a fastbreak layup for the Penguins and pulled her team to within 21-20. The Sharks took a three-point edge into the second quarter, which featured HPU prominently as it outscored Dominican 21-10 in that timeframe.
 
The two squads traded baskets through the third and fourth quarters but the Penguins couldn't overcome the separation that had been created in the second frame.