SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Hawai'i Pacific University went cold in the second half as Dominican (Calif.) completed the sweep with a 68-47 PacWest Conference victory on Wednesday evening at the Conlan Center.
The Sharks (6-16, 3-12) were tied with the Penguins (16-9, 13-5) but fell behind when DUC went on a 10-0 early in the third quarter and never caught up in the contest that was rescheduled from Jan. 13.
Junior
Tavia Rowell of Langley, B.C./Walnut Grove led the Sharks with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore
Haley Masaki of Honolulu/Kamehameha-Kapalama added eight points.
Dominican got a pair of double-doubles, with Riley Friauf leading the way scoring 19 points with 12 rebounds, and Brittney Cedeno 10 points and 10 boards. Cedeno just missed a triple-double with eight assists as well. Alaiyah San Juan collected 14 points and Alessandra Salise chipped in 10.
HPU shot 32 percent from the floor (17-of-54), including 5-of-21 (24 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Sharks made 8-of-10 (80 percent) from the free throw line. Dominican connected on 44 percent from the field (26-of-59), including 9-of-20 (45 percent) from behind the arc. The Penguins hit 7-of-10 (70 percent) from the charity stripe. DUC took the rebounds 39-33 and suffered just nine turnovers to the Sharks 19.
The Sharks got an early lead after a layup from junior
Avery Cargill from Santa Rosa, Calif./Cardinal Newman, but Dominican came back to take a seven-point lead before a 5-0 run by the Sharks capped by a 3-pointer from graduate student
Julia Razo of Woodland, Calif./St. Francis to end the quarter down 18-16.
The Sharks held the Penguins scoreless in the first five minutes of the second quarter and went on an 8-0 run for a combined 12-0 run from the end of the first quarter to grab a five-point 23-18 lead on a Rowell with 5:20 left in the half. DUC fought back to tie the game before freshman
Jordyn Jensen of Truckee, Calif./Bishop Manogue scored in the paint to give the Sharks a 29-27 lead with 2:46 before the half. That lead held until the Penguins' Salise hit a jumper with three seconds left to tie the game at 29-29 at intermission.
HPU and DUC swapped scores to start the third, with HPU going up by one 32-31 on a Masaki driving layup with 7:16 remaining in the quarter. But that would be the Sharks last lead. The Penguins got a layup from Friauf to start the 10-0 run that gave DUC the lead for good. Dominican held a 45-38 advantage at the quarter break.
The Sharks got a jumper from Rowell to close the gap to five points, but the Penguins went on a 13-0 run that became a 19-3 stretch to put the game away on the way to a 68-47 win.
There's no rest for the HPU women, as the Sharks face Academy of Art on Thursday. Tipoff is at 3 p.m. HST (5 p.m. PST) at Notre Dame de Namur's Gleason Gym in Belmont, Calif.
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