SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – The third time was almost the charm on Thursday night.

The Concordia University Irvine women's basketball team played valiantly against the No. 3 seeded Hawaii Pacific Sharks but ultimately lost 65-58 in its quarterfinal matchup at the PacWest Conference Championships.  HPU had won the previous two meetings by double digits but this time it was a totally different story.

The Eagles came out strong and capitalized off multiple HPU turnovers to build a 14-9 lead midway through the first quarter.  Despite picking up two quick fouls, true freshman Jasmine Rachal made two layups to get the CUI offense going.  A few possessions later, Riley Friauf's offensive rebound and ensuing made hook shot gave the Eagles a 16-13 lead.  The Sharks were officially put on upset alert when Kennedy Fulcher drained a trey to make it 19-13 Eagles at the end of the first quarter.

After a 14-0 run by HPU put the Sharks up 27-19, Michaela VanderKlugt drilled a trey and then converted a left-handed layup while getting fouled to help CUI claw within 27-24.  At the break, HPU led CUI 29-24.

VanderKlugt scored six of her team-high 19 points for the Green and Gold in the third quarter.  Jasmine Rachal also scored five of her 13 points in the quarter as well, but HPU held a nine-point lead after three.

In the fourth, HPU threatened to pull away but the Eagles kept forcing turnovers and stayed within striking distance.  CUI outscored the Sharks 20-18 in the final ten minutes and cut the deficit to four on a clutch three by freshman Katie Timmerman. But HPU was able to fend off CUI's pressure down the stretch and escape with a hard-fought 65-58 win.

"I thought we really battled and the way we played today really showed how much we've grown this year," added Frankie Wade-Sanchez, who collected a career-high five steals.

CUI brought quite the cheering section on the road as well. The Eagles softball team is also playing at Dominican University this week and the men's basketball team was enjoying a first-round bye before facing Chaminade on Friday at 12:30 pm in the PacWest Championship semifinals. Both squads made their presence felt during the game as they tried to will the Eagles to victory.

"Our men's team showed up (to support) as well as our softball team, and looking up in the stands and knowing that we had a really big crowd. That fired me up," admitted VanderKlugt, who was voted Second Team All-Conference earlier this week. "I could look over at them and every single time I had an 'and-one' they were standing and it was just like another adrenaline rush added on top of everything else that was going on."

"I think it really helped us and was a big game-changer for us to have our whole family out there supporting us," said Rachal.

"It should be said too that these our two of our best teams in our (athletics) program," said CUI head coach Christine Collins-Kiernan. "Our Softball team is phenomenal and the men's basketball team has been consistent for 22 years. For them to come in and give us some of that support is huge. They understand the growth and the support for our program at our school is phenomenal."

The CUI women's basketball team finished the season 10-18 overall and 9-13 in PacWest play during the regular season. This was the second straight year Collins-Kiernan and her staff led the Eagles to the PacWest Conference Tournament and the entire starting lineup returns next season. 

"We are a super young team and we've grown exponentially since the first time we stepped on the court together," said Collins-Kiernan.  "I'm really excited about the group that's going to be going forward and the pieces that we're going to be adding in the coming year. Yeah it may be a bad ending, but the beginning and the process and the looking ahead brings a lot of joy."

"I want (us) to be the UConn of Division II," added Collins-Kiernan. "I want to be here, I want to win. I want to bring great glory to the PacWest and I want other people to respect our program, which I don't think has been the case in the previous ten years that we've been playing. I think we're starting to make noise that we're here to compete. We're not just some little Concordia Eaglets, we're Eagles here."