Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Redshirt freshman Lauren Hyatt tallied a game-high 16 points in her Dominican University of California debut and sophomore Kayla Valentine scored a career-high 14 points but the Lady Penguins couldn't recover from a first-half deficit on Friday and fell 76-51 to Humboldt State.

It was the season-opening game for both teams in the CCAA/PacWest Women's Basketball Challenge at Dominican's Conlan Center.

“Dealing with young players you're going to go through ups and downs, but compared to our exhibitions [last week] we were 10 times better,” said Head Coach Brianna Chambers. “We're seeing progress.”

Hyatt scored 12 of her points after intermission when Dominican trailed 43-26, but the Lady Penguins didn't have the balance to match the Jacks, who had five players in double figures, led by senior Kayla Williams' 15.

“Lauren had some nice post moves,” Chambers said. “We definitely saw big improvement from her as far as being strong.”

Jasmine Green led Dominican with eight rebounds and three blocked shots and 6-foot-4 freshman Sarah Nelson had six rebounds and a block shot in 10 minutes before fouling out.  Senior Bree Halsey topped Humboldt State with a game-best 12 rebounds, six on the offensive end. Freshman Danielle Yamauchi had a game-high four assists for Dominican.

On Veterans Day, the Jacks brought a roster filled with veterans. They had an all-upperclassman starting lineup and two of the first three substitutes to enter the game were seniors, including Lexxi Price, a transfer from NCAA Div. I Washington State. Dominican, whose starting lineup included three underclassmen, twice fell behind by 11 points in the first half, but was on the verge of a comeback. Free throws by Kimi Nakamura and a basket by Valentine pulled the Lady Penguins to within seven and they were heading up court with a chance to trim the lead to five or four when Humboldt's Patrice Saindon intercepted an outlet pass and easily scored to push the lead back to nine.

Though Valentine scored Dominican's final 11 points of the first half, the Jacks — led by Williams who scored all 15 her points (with 3-of-4 three-point shooting) in the first 20 minutes — built their advantage to 18 points. The Lady Penguins were outscored by 13 points from the foul line in the first half.

Dominican plays the second half of the CCAA/PacWest Challenge on Saturday, November 12 at 5:00 p.m when it hosts Cal State East Bay. The Pioneers (0-1) got 14 points from sophomore Sarah Finley and 10 each out of freshman Micah Walker and Marlene MacMillan in their 52-44 loss to Academy of Art in Conlan Center on Friday afternoon. Saturday's game will feature live audio at http://radio.dominican.edu and live video at http://www.dominicanathletics.com/livevideo.