Box Score
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Despite losing to visiting Fresno Pacific 80-68 in the last game of the season, Dominican women's basketball still punched their ticket to the playoffs on Senior Day for Sandra Ikeora and Alexis Price.
 
Junior Natalie Diaz finished the game with another double-double for the Penguins (17-10, 11-8 PacWest), scoring 23 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Ikeora ended the game with eight points and 13 rebounds. Megan Lee led the Sunbirds (13-15, 11-9 PacWest) with 25 points and eight rebounds, shooting 7-9 from 3-point range.
 
Fresno Pacific drew first blood with back-to-back three-pointers to start the game. They continued their hot shooting in the first quarter with an 8-0 run that added up to 21 points scored in the first 5 minutes of the game. Diaz scored four points to help trim the 23-12 Sunbirds lead down to 5 going into the second quarter.
 
The Penguins saw their first lead of the game with 5 minutes left to play in the second quarter as plenty of Diaz free throws helped the Penguins lead 28-27.  The Sunbirds would retake a substantial lead after four late jumpers from Ashley Cross, and Dominican trailed 46-34 to end the first half.
 
Dominican never cut the deficit to single digits for the rest of the game as Lee hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter to push the Fresno Pacific lead to as much as 24 points. The Penguins managed to cut their deficit to 11 with the help of a 10-0 run in the middle of the 4^th quarter. It would not be enough as Sunbirds held on for the win.
 
The Penguins travel to Riverside to start playoff action in the PacWest tournament on Thursday as they take on host California Baptist in a 12:30 p.m. start. Live stats and video will be available online.