Women’s basketball: Golan, Point Loma rally past Dominican for PacWest title, NCAA berth

Hannah Golan celebrated her homecoming on Saturday as she cut down the net at Dominican University’s Conlan Center with her Point Loma teammates.

The Novato native floated a pull-up jumper in the final 2 minutes of the PacWest women’s basketball championship to bring Point Loma to within one point of host Dominican, before teammate Kaylee Byon hit the go-ahead basket as the top-seeded Sea Lions beat the No. 3 Penguins, 58-51.

“The game didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but I’m extremely proud of the team and our university,” said Dominican head coach Tim LaKose, whose team was making its first appearance in the PacWest finals. “The PacWest Conference has been a great tournament for us. One more stop, one more score, it’d be a lot different right now.”

Point Loma won its first regular-season title and first PacWest tournament title in program history during a breakthrough season which continues as the Sea Lions prepare for more madness in March. As an added bonus for the Sea Lions, Point Loma’s men’s team beat Academy of Art 67-64 in their championship game.

A lot was on the line with the championship Saturday, including a berth in the NCAA Division II tournament for the winner.

“This is college basketball, so you never know what’s going to happen,” Golan said of the pressure-filled fourth quarter.

Tournament MVP Alli McDonald finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Sea Lions. Byon scored a team-high 13 points, including seven from the charity stripe, and Golan finished with 11 points, three rebounds and a blocked shot as they were named to the all-tournament team.

Dominican’s Alaiyah San Juan scored a game-high 14 points and Taylor Linzie posted 11 points and 12 rebounds. The two Dominican seniors, along with Westmont’s Lisa Kiefer, rounded out the all-tournament honor roll.

“Dominican had an incredible tournament,” Point Loma head coach Charity Elliott said. “Nothing was easy today, nothing.”

San Juan hit a 3-pointer to put the Penguins ahead, 44-42, just 2 minutes into the fourth quarter, followed by a 3-pointer from Linzie as Dominican boosted its lead to five points.

The Penguins traded baskets with Point Loma’s 6-foot-2 Tahoe native Eiley Rippins, who had nine points and 10 rebounds. Golan hit the front half of a pair of free throws, then hit a jumper in traffic as the Sea Lions went on an 11-0 run to close out the game.

The Penguins got the ball into San Juan’s hands for a potential game-tying 3-pointer, but the offense went cold for Dominican.

“We hit some really critical baskets,” Elliott said. “Our poise at the end, our game management, was perfect. These girls knew what to do. They made the right decisions, the right passes, and then we hit our free throws. I’m really proud of them.”

The Penguins set the pace against a cold-shooting Point Loma team in the first quarter, and led almost the entire game. The scoring opened with a layup from Dominican’s Abigail Cooper, who finished with 12 points. The Penguins then went on an 8-0 run with baskets from sophomore Kaylyn Buchanon and San Juan.

Golan hit a pair of baskets to close out the first quarter and cut Dominican’s lead to 13-7.

“I wanted this (championship) really badly,” Golan said. “Just being there for my team, because  there have been times where everybody’s had to step up and make those shots. I’m happy I was able to be that person and make some shots while everyone was warming up a little bit.”

Golan looked right at home on the Dominican court, where three years ago to the day she and her Branson School teammates won the CIF Northern California Division IV championship. The Bulls went on to claim the State crown four days later with a 46-23 victory over Southern California champion Imperial.

“It’s great to be back,” Golan said. “We had an amazing crowd with out families here. I’m glad we could do it for them.”

The Sea Lions started to catch fire in the second quarter, when McDonald, Byon and Jocelyn Pascual combined for a nine-point run that gave Point Loma its first lead of the game, 20-18, with 2 minutes left in the first half.

Linzie, who stands 5-7, drew a touch matchup against Point Loma’s 5-11 forward Maddie Mersch and 6-1 sophomore Elle Hanson, but still made her presence felt in the paint.

“It was a fun matchup,” Linzie said. “I just told my teammates, ‘I’m here to help. I’m the backup if you guys need me.’”

Linzie dropped in a layup to tie the score, but Pascual hit a pair of free throws to restore Point Loma’s lead. San Juan responded defiantly with a go-ahead 3-pointer as the teams continued to trade baskets.

Golan found herself open at the other end of the court but her first shot hit the front of the rim. She leapt to grab the rebound and floated the ball into the hoop. Once again, San Juan came through in the clutch with a buzzer-beater as the Penguins took a 25-24 lead into the break.

The teams continued their back-and-forth struggle into the third quarter before Linzie scored the first half of a 10-point Dominican run. The Sea Lions took some of the energy out of the Penguins’ sudden surge, making it just a one-shot game, with Domincan leading 40-38 after three quarters.

McDonald wasted no time in taking her shot, converting a 3-point play 10 seconds into the fourth quarter, to give the Sea Lions the lead.

San Juan and Linzie hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Dominican a five-point lead with 6 minutes left on the clock. The time was ticking on the Penguins’ lead however. McDonald got Point Loma to within two points before the Sea Lions took the lead behind baskets from Golan and Byon, who later sealed the game at the free throw line.