IRVINE, Calif. » Not only surfers need to know how to ride the waves. Hawaii Pacific depended on that ability to reach the final of the PacWest Conference women’s basketball tournament.

The top-seeded Sharks built an early 10-point lead, then fell behind by eight in the second half before rallying to defeat Azusa Pacific 72-60 in Friday’s semifinals at Concordia University.

HPU (23-4) would qualify automatically for the NCAA Division II tournament for the first time in five years by defeating second-seeded Cal Baptist in the women’s final Saturday.

But for HPU to reach the NCAA tournament, it must master its own reflection.

"I think our teams mirror each other, and that’s the difficulty in dealing with them," Sharks coach Reid Takatsuka said about Cal Baptist. "They’re built kind of like we are. They have players at every position who can score, and anyone can score at any time."

The Lancers finished second in the PacWest in scoring (80.0 points per game) to HPU (83.0 points per game).

HPU guard Kylie Huerta, the PacWest’s assist leader and newcomer of the year, enters the championship game with what she called "turf toe." A flexible plastic boot encased Huerta’s lower right leg after the game.

"It’s been bugging me for the last couple of weeks, now," Huerta said. "I feel as fresh as I think I will be. Hopefully, I can rest it tonight and be good for tomorrow."

Against fourth-seeded Azusa Pacific (19-9), HPU used a 13-4 blitz to build an 18-8 advantage 6 minutes, 26 seconds into the game. Freshman Breanna Mackenzie led the run with five points.

But the Cougars ended the first half with a 10-3 surge to move ahead at halftime, 36-35. Then Azusa Pacific’s Cydnie Jones began the second half by scoring seven points during a 9-2 spree that extended HPU’s deficit to 45-37 with 14:02 to play.

"We weren’t playing our best," Takatsuka said. "But the strength of our team has been the ability to stay together in bad situations. Because we have so many players who are glue-type players, they keep everyone together and keep that little train going forward."

So the Sharks began preparing for the next swell by improving their communication.

"In the first half, we were breaking down defensively because we weren’t talking," Huerta said. "So we really made the commitment in the second half just to really talk, switch things when we needed to and get hands up on shooters. That’s what got us going."

As a result, HPU forced the Cougars to miss 24 of 32 field-goal attempts in the second half while outrebounding them in the half 26-17. Chenise Peone grabbed seven of her 10 rebounds in the second half, while Morganne Comstock secured six of her 11.

Offensively, Huerta and Comstock took control. Huerta scored 12 points in the second half while making three of four shots from 3-point range to lead HPU with 20 points.

Comstock, the conference’s player of the year, made four of 10 field-goal attempts in the second half to compile eight points and compensate for an ineffective first half.

The 6-foot-2 redshirt senior had just three points in the first half and ended the game with 11 points. Nevertheless, Comstock influenced the game.

"They were double- and triple-teaming Morganne, but her presence opens up all the stuff outside for everybody," said Peone, who scored 14 points. "That’s where all of us guards got our points."

Azusa Pacific drew within 58-54 with 5:25 to play. But in the final 3:43, the Sharks converted 12 of 14 free throws while holding the Cougars to six points.

MEN’S SEMIFINALS

BYU-Hawaii 98, Dixie State 75

Scott Friel scored a career-high 31 points — tying the tournament’s single-game record — to lead the fourth-seeded Seasiders (22-5) in the upset of the top-seeded Red Storm (20-6), the conference co-champion.

Ian Harward added 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, while Daniel Berger grabbed 10 rebounds. BYU-Hawaii shot 55.1 percent for the game, 62.1 percent in the second half, and led by as many as 31 points.

The Seasiders play third-seeded Cal Baptist in Saturday’s final. The winner qualifies for the NCAA Division I tournament.