Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — It was a tale of two halves for the Dominican University of California women's basketball team, which dropped a 70-59 decision to Azusa Pacific University to open the Pacific West Conference season on Thursday.

The Penguins scorched the nets in the first half on 15-of-29 (.517) shooting. That allowed the Penguins (0-7/0-1) to build as large a ten point lead at the 12-minute mark on a Carly Holboke three-pointer. Dominican entered the locker room with a 37-29 halftime lead but the team's fortunes changed in the second half.

In the final 20 minutes, Dominican's field goal shooting fell to 8-of-33 (.242). Conversely, the Cougars (3-3/1-0), who were limited to 38 percent shooting in the first half, went ablaze in the second half on 16-of-23 (.696) shooting.

Dominican saw its lead disappear for good on three consecutive Azusa Pacific three-pointers, including back-to-back buckets from Kelly Hardeman. That put the Cougars ahead for good, 41-40, at the 12-minute mark in the second half. That was part of a 20-0 run by the Cougars that changed the momentum of the game from Dominican's lead, 40-31, to the Cougars' lead, 51-40,  with 10:17 to go.

The Penguins were led by nine points from Jessy Marshall. Jasmine Cox and Noelle Roldan each added eight points in the loss. Donielle Hair, making her first collegiate start, along with Holboke and Lauren Hyatt scored six points apiece. Cox grabbed a team-high six boards.

Hardeman led all players with 22 points with 15 points coming from behind the three-point line. Allison Greene added 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Sendy Valles added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the Cougars.

On Saturday afternoon, the Penguins are back in action vs. Point Loma. Fans are encouraged to wear #AllGoldEverything to the games — scheduled in the afternoon at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. — and the first 100 students will receive a FREE Dominican Athletics gold t-shirt courtesy of Gold Rush Jewelers. Live coverage of Saturday's games is available at dominicanathletics.com/live.