FRESNO, Calif. – Point Loma got a fast start to the PacWest Championships and held off a fierce comeback from Dominican to become the first lower-seeded team to win at the tournament, winning 55-52 on Wednesday at the Special Events Center.
 
Cara Liggins and Sydney Peterson both helped Point Loma reach the conference tournament’s championship game as freshmen in 2018 and both of the seniors played crucial parts in getting the Sea Lions off to a winning start at the 2022 edition of the tournament.
 
Liggins posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Peterson, who has been battling injuries, played exclusively in the fourth quarter and provided two clutch free throws to secure the victory in the final seconds.
 
The Sea Lions raced out to a 23-8 lead in the first seven minutes of the game and made 10 free throws in the first quarter to quickly earn a commanding lead. Point Loma didn’t take its foot off the gas pedal in the second quarter, opening the quarter on an 8-0 run that was capped by a floater in the paint from Allie Carreon, who was playing in her first PacWest Championships game, giving the Sea Lions a 34-15 lead.
 
The game changed radically at that point and the trigger was Alaiyah San Juan who completed a 3-point play that kickstarted a 15-0 run that lasted for the rest of the quarter as the Penguins defense completely shutout Point Loma to make the deficit a more manageable four points, 34-30.
 
Both defenses locked in during the third quarter, but Alessandra Salise scored five points for Dominican to make the score 42-39 going into the final frame. Buckets continued to be hard to come by, but Dominican pulled within one with a pair of free throws, 42-41, but that was the last time the Sea Lions allowed any points over the next six minutes, going on an 8-0 run. Haylee Saurette made a lay-up off a turnover to make the score 50-41.
 
Brittney Cedeno scored just two points during the first three quarters, but made a lay-up and a 3-pointer when Dominican needed it most to help the Penguins eventually pull within two with 36 seconds left.
 
Point Loma drained time off the clock before shooting with less than 10 seconds left in the game, and Liggins grabbed the offensive rebound to make the rest of the game a matter of free throws. After Dominican made a pair of their own free throws to cut the deficit to one, Peterson made her two free throws to secure the victory, 55-52.
 
The two teams scored a combined 43 points in the second half, which was characterized by tough defense. Point Loma never trailed and held on tight to its single-digit lead during the entire fourth quarter.
 
Ellie Turk scored 13 points on 4 of 9 shooting, and Saurette also tagged on 13 points with 10 rebounds. Dominican was led by Salise’s 17 points off the bench. The Penguins were playing without the PacWest leading scorer Riley Friauf, who was in uniform, but was sidelined due to an injury sustained during the final game of the regular season. She finished her outstanding career with an average of 20.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game during two seasons at Dominican.
 
Point Loma will advance to play in Friday’s semifinal against No. 3 Academy of Art at 5 p.m. in the Special Events Center. Academy of Art won both meetings with Point Loma by single digits early in the conference season.