Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Offensively, the Dominican University of California women's basketball team had its most productive game on Monday night, netting its highest output of the season.

Defensively, the Lady Penguins struggled to stop BYU-Hawaii from going to the basket, going to the foul line, and going to the boards.

Despite a career-high nine rebounds and career-tying 14 points by 6-foot-4 freshman Sarah Nelson in 15 minutes off the bench, Dominican was hurt by the fact that visiting BYU-Hawaii had 27 offensive rebounds and shot 28 more free throws (38-10) in registering a 78-71 Pacific West Conference victory at the Conlan Center.

Redshirt freshman Lauren Hyatt and sophomore Kayla Valentine both netted 14 points for the young Lady Penguins (2-15/1-6) and teammate Kimi Nakamura contributed a career-high seven assists but Shayla Washington and Taylor Mann combined for 49 points and 28 rebounds for the Seasiders (3-12/2-5).

“Our whole thing tonight was to attack the basket. That was our goal. We needed to make layups and not long shots,” said Head Coach Brianna Chambers. “They were more aggressive. That's the stat that hurt us the most. We had more field goals.”

Nelson and the 6-2 Hyatt teamed to connect on 13-of-15 shots and the Lady Penguins actually outshot BYU-Hawaii (44.8 to 39.7 percent), outscored them for the floor (30 to 25 field goals) and tallied their most points in a game since they netted 78 in a win over BYU-Hawaii last Feb. 15. Yet, at one point the game on Monday, the Seasiders had attempted 23 foul shots to two for Dominican.

The Lady Penguins came out strong enough as four different players scored – in the paint – as Dominican raced to a 10-3 lead. That lead was extended to nine points, 20-11, on a pair of 3-point shots by freshman Ariana Flynn before the Seasiders rallied. Led by sophomore Taylor Mann, BYU-Hawaii scored 11 consecutive points to take the lead. Mann had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the first half, nine on the offensive end. She had only 22 offensive rebounds in her first 14 games this season.

But BYU-Hawaii was hurt as the foul line where the Seasiders missed 10 of 15 free throws in
the first half.

Dominican regained the lead thanks to its shortest player – 5-foot-1 junior point guard Stephanie Carnes – and its tallest player – Nelson. They combined to score 10 points in a row and Nelson's offensive rebound basket put Dominican ahead 34-33, the sixth lead change in the final seven minutes of the half.

Five different Lady Penguins had six points in the first half – Nelson, Carnes, Flynn, Valentine, and Te Manu Whakataki "Taki" Te Koi, whose bucket gave Dominican a 36-33 advantage at intermission.

In the second half, the Lady Penguins fell behind by seven points then their freshman – Nelson and Flynn-- scored seven straight points to tie the game at 59-59 with 7:55 to go in the game. It was the 13th tie of the contest.

BYU-Hawaii, however, responded by eight consecutive points of its own to re-take the lead for good.

The Lady Penguins will return to action on Saturday when they play their PacWest and Bay Area rivals, the Notre Dame de Namur University Argonauts (4-12/2-6). Game time in the Conlan Center is 5:30 p.m. The game, followed by the men at 7:30 p.m., will be broadcast live online at www.dominicanathletics.com/livevideo and http://radio.dominican.edu.