Fresno, Calif. – No. 2 seeded Dominican University of California fell  55-52 to Point Loma in the opening round of the PacWest Championships.
 
"Let me reiterate how happy we are to be here," head coach Tim Lakose said. "We had a great season with a lot of wins. It's such a privilege to be here."
 
The Penguins' season ends with an 18-10 overall record with the conference record reading 15-6. Despite low expectations given early on by preseason polls, Dominican had the conference leading scorer, rebounder and steals champion. Two players made preseason polls while Dominican earned itself a No. 2 ranking in the PacWest tournament. Reality superseded expectations for this team.
 
Dominican fell into early foul trouble, committing five fouls before three minutes had ticked off the clock. Head coach Tim LaKose called a timeout after Dominican saw itself down 8-2 in the early phases, also subbing in much of his bench in the early stages. Freshman Alex Salise made an immediate impact off the bench, converting on a layup and a midrange jumper to pull Dominican within six. Point Loma then jumped out to a 1-4 run, earning a 24-10 lead before a foul shot by senior Camryn Figueroa halted the streak.
 
Senior Jordan Charlton converted on a lay-in to bring the Penguins within six, with graduate student Abreanna Lake and Salise combining for a steal before Point Loma took eventual possession seconds later courtesy of the dual possession arrow. An errant Sea Lions pass gave Dominican the ball with 40.8 seconds remaining in the opening frame, a costly error as Figueroa converted with a finger-roll on the ensuing possession to mark the final basket of the quarter with Point Loma leading 26-15.
 
The foul calls kept coming in the second quarter, with the team getting flagged for a trio of infractions in the opening three minutes. Freshman Alaiyah San Juan drew an offensive foul with her team down 34-15 with 5:57 to go in the second stanza, then drawing a blocking foul on the following trip down the court. The Dominican defensive kept pushing, this time in the form of an over-and-back violation that came from the Penguins full-court press, with Figueroa converting on a diving layup soon after. Hatfield's efforts led to the next Point Loma turnover seconds later with a media timeout following soon after.
 
San Juan left her defender circling in the paint before she converted from in-close while playing with three fouls, then setting up Hatfield with a midrange jumper. San Juan then stole the ball at half court as the Penguins grasped the momentum, with Figueroa finishing the play with a strong left hander to force a Point Loma timeout as the score read 34-24.
 
Cedeno stole the ball for yet another Dominican steal, preceding a Hatfield bucket on the other side of the court. Dominican finished the half with an astonishing seven turnovers over a five-minute span as it catapulted itself back into the game, ending the half on a 15-0 run that was capped off with a Salise hook shot as time expired.
 
Point Loma jumped out with a pair of baskets to start the third quarter, but the Dominican press what unstoppable as two more turnovers led to two more baskets, with Salise building what would end up being her best game of the season thus far with another basket. Cedeno built on her conference leading steals count on the next Point Loma possession, but the Sea Lions eventually got the ball back and converted on a jumper from in-close to set the score to 42-34.
 
Figueroa drew an offensive foul before the Point Loma attacker even reached the half court line, but Dominican was unable to convert on the newfound opportunity. Salise hit Dominican's first long ball a pair of possessions later to bring the Penguins within five, with Cedeno hitting the game's next basket from the top of the key as Dominican brought itself all the way back within one possession. Neither team found the basket in the waning moments of the third quarter, so the one possession Point Loma lead would hold as the Seas Lions led 42-39.
 
Figueroa found herself on the foul line to start the final frame, draining both to pull her team within one. Ellie Turk hit a jumper to put Point Loma back up by three, followed by a layup that gave the Sea Lions a five-point advantage.
 
Cedeno drew an offensive foul to keep her team from a double-digit deficit late as the Sea Lions found themselves on an 8-0 run. Salise stopped the run with another layup in the pain, followed by a clutch Cedeno 3-pointer to pull Dominican back within four. A pair of Sea Lions' free throws put them back up six, but more late-game Cedeno heroics cut the lead back to four with 1:11 remaining. Success Salise free throws made it a one possession game after another Point Loma turnover, but that was as close as Dominican would come as Point Loma earned a 55-52 victory to advance in the conference tournament.

Salise played her best game of the season, stealing momentum while anchoring her team after coming off the bench. The freshman finished with a game-high 17 points and four steals, both of which are career highs, also adding five rebounds. Cedeno snagged 10 rebounds with seven points while Figueroa tallied nine points, three rebounds and two steals. The team forced 27 turnovers.