AZUSA, CA (March 9, 2013) – The Hawai'i Pacific Women's Basketball Team (19-7) was undone by a poor second half and lost 75-49 to Academy of Art (23-8) in the PacWest Tournament Championship.  

The first half was the hotly contested game that PacWest fans were expecting. The first five and a half minutes saw three ties before the Urban Knights made a push. Art U went on a 12-2 run and took an eight point lead at the 6:56 mark.

The deficit would stand at seven until Melody Ladrido took over. “Bing” hit a pair of foul shots, and after a defensive stop she made a layup. Next, she stole the ball and drilled a three-pointer. Ladrido score seven points in the span of 41 seconds to tie the game. By the half the Sea Warriors led 30-26.

Ladrido injured her knee in the waning seconds of the first half. She returned briefly in the second half but could not continue.

HPU would lead by six points in the opening minutes of the second half on a jumper by Mikela Thoemmes. From there, it would be all Urban Knights. Art U went on a 26-5 run over the 11 minutes to essentially end the game.

AAU grabbed 21 offensive rebounds that led to 21 second chance points. HPU turned it over 22 times that AAU turned into 29 points.

Ladrido led HPU with 13 points. Skye Savini, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, scored nine points. Susannah Walmsley also had nine points to go with a game-high six assists. Thoemmas scored six points while grabbing a team-high six rebounds.

HPU remains a candidate for an at-large bid to the regional; the field of 64 will be announced tomorrow on the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball National Championship Tournament Selection Show at 4:00 PM. It can be seen on ncaa.com.

Box Score