Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball fell 76-72 to Concordia University Irvine at the Conlan Center Tuesday night.
 
Senior Sandra Ikeora led the Penguins (17-9, 11-7 PacWest) with a double-double, finishing with 24 points and 17 rebounds. Freshman Sydney Larocca tallied 15 points to match her career-high and junior Natalie Diaz added 13 points and eight rebounds. Kennedy Fulcher led the Eagles (15-9, 12-6 PacWest) with 18 points.
 
Both teams started the game sloppily with the Penguins missing 11 of their first 13 field goal attempts and the two teams combining for 13 turnovers by the first media timeout. After Diaz put in a layup to give Dominican a 10-6 lead with just over three minutes to play, Concordia went on a 7-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Sopavy Seng, to take a 13-10 advantage. The Eagles held a 16-12 lead at the end of the first period.
 
Things picked up offensively in the second quarter with sophomore Anjelica Collins burying a 3-pointer to give the Penguins a 22-20 lead nearly halfway through the frame. With less than a minute left in the period, freshman Julia Razo knocked down a jumper and Ikeora followed with a driving layup to give Dominican a 34-30 lead going into the half.
 
After the Penguins took a 36-32 advantage early in the second half, Concordia went on a 9-0 run to take a 41-36 lead midway through the third quarter. Coming out of a media timeout, Montana Walters finished a layup and Michaela Vanderklugt follwed with a 3-pointer to put the Eagles ahead 46-38. Later in the period, Seng finished an and-1 to stretch Concordia's advantage to 54-45. On the Eagles' last possession of the quarter, Vanderklugt completed another 3-point play, drawing Diaz's fifth foul and giving Concordia their largest lead of the game at 57-46 heading into the fourth period.
 
Dominican immediately began trimming their deficit to start the fourth quarter as sophomore Alanna Scott hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to bring the Penguins within 57-51. A few possessions later, Collins pulled down an offensive rebound and drew a foul, putting in both free throws to bring Dominican even closer at 60-55.
 
Near the midway point in the quarter, Ikeora rebounded a Penguins' missed free throw and later got the ball back to finish a spinning post move with a layup, cutting Dominican's deficit to 60-58. With just over 90 seconds remaining with the score tied at 68-68, Larocca drove hard and drew a foul, knocking down a pair to put the Penguins on top 70-68. After the Eagles responded quickly with a basket to tie the game, Dominican turned it over, giving Concordia the ball with 40 seconds left in the game. Walter promptly knocked down a triple, giving the Eagles a 73-70 lead, and the Penguins turned it over again on their next possession.
 
Dominican was forced to foul but Concordia missed a pair, giving the Penguins life with 12 seconds left. Dominican took a timeout and coming out of the break they quickly fed the ball to Ikeora who turned and put in a layup to bring the Penguins within a point. Again forced to foul, Dominican was not so lucky this time around as Fulcher made both, sealing the win for the Eagles.

Though the Penguins were unable to clinch a PacWest tournament bid Tuesday, a win against California Baptist on Thursday, or a Fresno Pacific loss to Academy of Art, would get Dominican in. 
 
The Penguins will host the Lancers Thursday on Academic Night for a 5:30 p.m. tip. Live stats and video will be available online.