SANTA ANA - Ashley Whisler nearly gave the Dons another five minutes to try and complete their comeback but her three-point attempt hit the back of the rim as the Dons fell 54-51 to Palomar College in the season opener.

Palomar (1-0) took advantage of 42 turnovers by the Dons (0-1) as they built a lead as large as 21 points with 8:51 left in the game. But the Dons were able to tighten their defense at the same time that shots began to fall as they began to chip away at the lead.

Carly Ducat hit the jumper that sparked the Dons 24-3 run with 8:10 left before Emily Hale made a fastbreak layup that cut the lead to 17 points. Berlin Ohanesian got a layup of her own before Hale hit a three to cut the lead to 12 before Palomar hit a free throw to go up by 13.

Back-to-back layups by Ducat then pulled the Dons within single digits for the first time since the halfway point of the first half. Kelly Smit pulled the Dons within seven before Palomar scored its final points of the game to take a 54-45 lead with 2:14 left in the game.

After a Shania Jacobson layup, Liliana Gonzalez hit a free throw and a three-pointer to pull the Dons within three with 27 seconds remaining, setting up Whisler's final attempt.

Despite shooting 19.2% in the first half, they came back to shoot 36.2% for the game led by Ducat with 12 points and Whisler with 10. Ducat also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Palomar was led by Mikaela Stanton who was the only Comet to score in double digits with 10 points.

The Dons return to action tomorrow night when they travel to Long Beach City College with tip-off at 6:00 p.m.