VALLEJO, Calif. — Five players reached double digits for the Dominican University of California women's basketball to overcome a slow first half and top California Maritime Academy 84-74 in exhibition play on Wednesday night.

The Penguins were slow to start out of the gate and trailed for nearly the entire first half. Dominican trailed by six before taking a 22-20 lead on separate free throws from Carly Holboke and Kelsey McKeon. However, CMA regained the lead and built it to as large as 10 but the Penguins trimmed the deficit to four by halftime.

Dominican came out much more determined and focused in the second half. CMA grew the lead to six, then a Sarah Nelson field goal and Jessy Marshall three-pointer trimmed the lead to one. A Sarah Nelson putback gave the Penguins the lead, 47-46, with 18:19 to go and they would never relinquish control. Another McKeon free throw capped off the 8-0 run to put Dominican up 50-46.  The Keelhaulers pulled back within a basket but Dominican grew the lead to as large as 13 on a Jade Castro three-pointer.

"I don't think we came out with the energy and mindset that we needed to. They came out with a lot better energy and it showed on the scoreboard," said Head Coach Tim LaKose. "In the second half, we came out much with a better mindset and played smarter. That's what we're going to need to do for forty minutes."

Four players, all starters, reached double digits for the Keelhaulers, led by Jennifer Keys' 17 points.

As a team, the Penguins shot 54 percent on 33 of 61 shooting from the field, including 6 of 14 (43 percent) from deep. Nelson led all players with 18 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks. Carly Holboke came off the bench for 17 points and five rebounds. Kelsey McKeon scored 16 points and also pulled down five boards. Allyssa Weatherd added 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Marshall knocked down three thre-pointers and finished with 11 points. Danielle Yamauchi came up with four steals and dished out a pair of assists.

"We played tonight better than we did last week. We'll clean up some things so we expect to play better on Saturday," added LaKose. "The focus is on us, getting better individually and team-wise at both ends."

On Saturday, Nov. 15, the Penguins open the season at Chico State in a non-conference matchup. The two teams meet in the season opener for the second year in a row with the Wildcats having gotten the best of Dominican last season in San Rafael. In their lone exhibition of the season, the Wildcats nearly reached the century mark in a 135-95 loss to Division I Sacramento State. Tipoff on Saturday is slated for 1 p.m. at Acker Gym in the 42nd annual Carl's Jr. Coslet Classic. Live stats will be provided by Chico State.