The Point Loma Nazarene University women’s basketball team pulled away to a 62-51 victory over Westmont Friday afternoon in San Rafael to advance to Saturday’s championship game of the PacWest Tournament.
Meanwhile, the University of San Diego’s women lost to Pacific 64-52 in the second round of the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas Friday while the UCSD women seek to clinch a first-round bye in next week’s Big West Tournament in the Tritons’ regular season finale Saturday.
The 24-5 PLNU women, the PacWest regular season champions, will meet host Dominican (22-11) at 2:45 Saturday for the women’s title.
PLNU outscored Westmont 36-28 in the second half. The Sea Lions were 15 for 20 on free throws while Westmont (18-11) attempted just two free throws. The winners forced 24 Westmont turnovers with 12 steals.
Alli McDonald and Jocelyn Pascual led the balanced Sea Lions’ attack with 10 points apiece. Shayla O’Neil had nine points while Eiley Tippins, Kylee Byon and Hannah Golan all added eight points.
The USD women finished 7-24 in coach Cindy Fisher’s final season. The Toreros went 2 for 15 in a four-point first quarter and never led, although they trailed by two at 23-21 at halftime.
Hallie Rhodes led USD with 18 points. Truitt Reilly had 14 points and a team-leading nine rebounds.
The UCSD women (17-14, 13-6) will host UC Davis at 2 p.m. Saturday in their Big West Conference regular season finale. A win would guarantee the Tritons a first-round bye in the conference tournament next week in Henderson, Nev.
The Tritons scored an 82-51 win at Long Beach State Thursday night and have won three straight games and six of their last seven.
Guard Sumayah Sugapong (La Jolla Country Day) led UCSD with 18 points and nine assists Thursday. Sabrina Ma scored 17 points. Parker Montgomery had 14 points and hit 4 of 5 three-point attempts. Kayanna Spriggs (Mater Dei Catholic High School) had 13 points and 10 rebounds.
San Diego’s two remaining active women’s community college basketball teams will be on the road Saturday for the final two regional games before the California State Championships March 14-16.
Sixth-seeded Palomar (23-6) will play at third-seeded Moorpark (25-4), while No. 10 seed Grossmont (24-5) will play at second-seeded Mount San Antonio (25-4). Both games are at 5 p.m.
