SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Hawai'i Pacific University dropped the opening game on its northern California road trip as Dominican (Calif.) chalked up a 78-69 PacWest Conference victory on Tuesday evening at the Conlan Center.
 
The Sharks (6-15, 3-11) had their two-game win streak snapped, while the Penguins (15-9, 12-5) won their fourth straight.
 
Graduate student Julia Razo of Woodland, Calif./St. Francis, a grad transfer from Dominican, double-doubled for the Sharks with her HPU best of 22 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Junior Tavia Rowell of Langley, B.C./Walnut Grove scored 16 points with five rebounds, while freshman Allison Ross of Boise, Idaho/Boise collected 14 points and six boards, and sophomore Haley Masaki of Honolulu/Kamehameha-Kapalama added 11 points.
 
Riley Friauf led DUC with 21 points to go with seven rebounds and Brittney Cedeno double-doubled with 16 points and 11 boards. Camryn Figueroa tossed in 14 points and Alaiyah San Juan tallied 10.
 
The Sharks hit 36 percent from the floor (25-of-70), including 8-of-29 (28 percent) from the 3-point arc. HPU made 11-of-17 (65 percent) from the free throw line. Dominican connected on 49 percent of its shots (30-of-61), with 5-of-14 (36 percent) from behind the arc. The Penguins shot 68 percent (13-of-19) from the charity stripe. HPU outrebounded DUC 43-38, and suffered one more turnover 14-13.
 
HPU never held a lead in the contest, but had the game tied at 2-2 and 4-4, but the Penguins went on a 10-2 run midway through the opening quarter and never trailed again. A 15-2 run that ended just before the quarter ran out gave DUC a 22-point lead. Ross drained a 3-pointer in the last minute of the first for the Sharks to snap the run and make the game 34-15 at the quarter break.
 
The Penguins got the lead up to 21 in the second quarter, but HPU mounted an 11-0 capped by a Rowell layup off a Ross steal. After allowing a layup to Friauf on the other end, Ross canned a pull-up 3 and Razo hit two free throws to make the run 16-2. A Penguin free throw made it an eight-point, 43-35 Dominican advantage at halftime.
 
HPU opened the second half with Masaki draining a triple, later adding a free throw and Razo a floating jumper in a 6-0 run to pull within two at 43-41 with 7:51 to go. The teams traded scores throughout the period and HPU got the difference to one at 50-49 on a Rowell free throw with 2:16 left in the period. But the Penguins responded with a 7-0 run to end the third and led 57-49 at the quarter break.
 
Dominican opened the final 10 minutes with another 6-0 run to make it a total of a 14-0 run in a three-minute span and the Sharks couldn't recover. HPU trimmed it to nine in the final minute on Rowell free throws as DUC won 78-69.
 
HPU doesn't have any time to worry about the contest, as they turn around to play Dominican again on Wednesday in a contest originally scheduled for Jan. 13 in Honolulu. Tipoff at DUC's Conlan Center is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. HST (5:30 p.m. PST).