Aloha Means Hello

The Dominican University of California men's and women's basketball teams begin this month with a nine-day, four-game road trip to Hawai'i in their first-ever Pacific West Conference swing through the Aloha State.

The Penguin men start off the trip with a game on Feb. 6 against BYU-Hawaii, which was a preseason favorite to win the NCAA Division II championship and is currently ranked seventh in the NCAA Div. II West Region poll.

Dominican's toughest game, however, will come  on Feb. 10 when they play first-place Hawaii Pacific University.

ESPN SportsCenter anchor Neil Everett is the former Sports Information Director at HPU, but C.J. Jackson will be the main focus for the Penguins. The 6-foot-8, 265-pound forward had 20 points and 20 rebounds in an 89-64 win at Dominican on Jan. 5.

The Dominican women take a four-game losing streak into February but they will have a good chance to snap that on Feb. 8 when they play Chaminade, which brought a 10-game losing streak into the month.

The Penguins return home to the Conlan Center on Feb. 18 to play a women's/men's doubleheader against new PacWest rival Academy of Art University.

Men's Lacrosse

After scrimmages against UC Davis and Sonoma State, Coach Ned Webster's squad opens its regular-season schedule at 12:00 p.m. on Valentine's Day Sunday, Feb. 14, against Colorado College. The Penguins also have a home game against rival Notre Dame de Namur University on Saturday afternoon, Febr. 20, then host Cal-Berkeley in a scrimmage at San Rafael High School's Miller Field on Friday night, Feb. 26.

Men's Basketball

The Penguins took a two-game winning streak into February with a chance to climb from fifth to third place in the PacWest standings with a successful road trip. After its 25-point loss last month to Hawaii Pacific, Dominican has played well – winning three games and losing two by a combined total of five points. The Penguins led at halftime of their 68-65 loss to Hawaii-Hilo and overcame a nine-point second-half deficit to take a lead before losing to Dixie State 74-72.

In his last three games in January, freshman Austin Bryan sank 25 consecutive free throws, connected on 66 percent of his field goal tries (27-of-41), and averaged 29.3 points a contest. He remains third in the PacWest in scoring and teammate Xander McNally continues to top the league in steals and is third in assists. Senior Alex Ward also played well, winning earning a spot on the PacWest Top 10 Honor Roll for the first week of January, and freshman Killian Larson had a 10-rebound game against Dixie State.

Women's Basketball

There has been plenty of contributions in the Lady Penguins' play of late. In its last four games in January, Dominican had three different leading scorers (Alisha Flaaten, Raquel Gomes, and Michaelia Baskerville) and five different leading rebounders (Gomes, Baskerville, Shawna Bryantt, and freshmen Melissa Wise and Kiley Berlinski).

Flaaten leads the team in scoring and four of her teammates (Baskerville, Kimi Nakamura, Tammy Brawner, and Kelsey Janusch) are averaging between seven and eight points a game to give Dominican excellent scoring balance.

Janusch leads the PacWest in three-point shooting percentage.

PENGUIN PROFILES

Austin Bryan
The 6-foot-4 freshman swingman was named the PacWest's Player of the Week for Jan. 18-24 when he averaged 30 points and hit 18-of-26 shots in two games. For the season, Bryan leads the Penguins in scoring average, points scored, field goals attempted and made, three-point field goals attempted and made and free throws attempted and made. He led Dominican in scoring in 12 of its first 17 games.

Alisha Flaaten
The Dominican 5-6 senior guard netted 24 points in game for the second time this season in January and, going into February, she was the second leading scorer in the league. Flaaten led the conference in three-point field goals and was fifth in the PacWest in free throw percentage, too. She leads the Lady Penguins in assists as well.


UPCOMING SCHEDULES

Women's Basketball
Feb. 6 @ BYU-Hawaii
Feb. 8 @ Chaminade University
Feb. 10 @ Hawai'i Pacific University
Feb. 12 @ University of Hawaii-Hilo
Feb. 18 vs. Academy of Art University
Feb. 20 vs. Notre Dame De Namur University
Feb. 25 @ Dixie State University
Feb. 27 @ Grand Canyon University

Men's Basketball
Feb. 6 @ BYU-Hawaii
Feb. 8 @ Chaminade University
Feb. 10 @ Hawai'i Pacific University
Feb. 12 @ University of Hawaii-Hilo
Feb. 18 vs. Academy of Art University
Feb. 20 vs. Notre Dame De Namur University
Feb. 25 @ Dixie State University
Feb. 27 @ Grand Canyon University

Men's  Lacrosse
Feb. 6 @ Sonoma State (scrimmage)
Feb. 14 vs. Colorado College
Feb. 20 vs. Notre Dame de Namur University
Feb. 26 vs. UC Berkeley (exhibition, held at San Rafael HS)
Feb. 28 vs. Southwestern University

Women's Softball
Feb. 20 @ Notre Dame de Namur University (DH)
Feb. 21 @ Notre Dame de Namur University (DH)
Feb. 26 @ Sonoma State University (DH)

Women's Tennis
Feb. 6 @ Mills College
Feb. 11 @ Notre Dame de Namur University
Feb. 18 vs. Sierra College
Feb. 23 vs. Academy of Art University
Feb. 26 vs. Sonoma State University
Feb. 27 vs. Mills College