Box Score RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball fell to Hawaii Pacific in a PacWest tournament semifinal Friday, 71-67, at the CBU Events Center.
 
Junior Natalie Diaz finished with 25 points to lead the Penguins. Senior Sandra Ikeora tallied 16 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, in just 17 minutes of action. Junior Anjelica Collins added eight points, 11 rebounds and three steals. Alysha Marcucci led the Sharks with 19 points.
 
The Penguins struggled to find their rhythm offensively early on as Ikeora finally broke the seal for Dominican with a pair of free throws nearly four minutes into the game. After Ikeora was forced to leave the game after picking up her third foul before the midway point in the quarter, Diaz picked up the slack. Diaz completed an and-1 and later finished off a driving layup to help the Penguins to a 14-10 lead. Samantha Lambrigsten drew a last second foul for the Sharks and put in a free throw to tie the game, 14-14, heading into the second quarter.
 
Diaz spun away from a double team to finish a reverse layup on the baseline to give Dominican an 18-14 lead a couple of minutes into the second period. HPU responded with a 3-pointer from Marcucci and a layup by Gabriella Fotu to regain the advantage, 19-18. After freshman Julia Razo buried a triple to allow the Penguins to take the lead, 23-20, Janessa Manzano responded with five quick points to put the Sharks back in front. In the final minute before halftime, Collins fought for an offensive rebound and quickly shoveled the ball to Diaz for a layup, helping Dominican tie the game at 28-28 heading into the break.
 
It remained a tight affair in the second half as Marcucci hit a 3-pointer to give HPU a 33-31 lead just past the halfway point of the third quarter. Later in the frame, Collins ripped the ball away for a steal before hitting an elbow jumper at the other end, trimming the Penguins' deficit to 37-35. HPU tried pulling away late in the frame but Ikeora would not allow it, putting in a layup and then completing an and-1 to keep Dominican in the game heading into the fourth quarter, trailing 44-41.
 
Early on in the final period, Anna Mumm grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in, giving the Sharks a 48-45 lead. Ikeora continued to find success in the paint, finishing off another and-1 to cut HPU's lead to 50-48. After another steal by Collins, Diaz drove from the elbow and finished a layup to tie the game, 50-50. With both teams warming up from the field, Collins hit a mid range jumper and followed it up with a corner triple on the Penguins' next possession to bring Dominican back within two, 62-60. Marcucci poured in another 3-pointer to extend the Sharks lead to 67-60 before Razo finished a left-handed layup to make it a five-point game with less than two minutes to play. After HPU forced a miss, Fotu hit a tough pullup jumper to put the Sharks ahead, 69-62, with 39 seconds left. With the Penguins trailing 70-64 and Dominican desperately needing a basket, Ikeora found Razo in the corner who let one fly from deep as the ball hit every part of the rim before dropping in, cutting HPU's lead to 70-67 with eight seconds left. The Penguins were then forced to foul Spencer Grey, who made one of two attempts, good enough to seal the win for the Sharks.

Dominican finishes the season 18-11 and earned their second PacWest tournament win in program history with Thursday's 79-72 victory over California Baptist. The Penguins have now made the PacWest tournament in three straight seasons under head coach Tim LaKose.