AZUSA, Calif. — Sandra Ikeora tallied her ninth double-double of the season on Monday night but the Dominican University of California women's basketball team fell 79-65 to No. 19 Azusa Pacific.

Ikeora scored 14 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for the Penguins (15-10/12-6 PacWest). Jade Castro came off the bench and matched a season-high 12 points, all on three-pointers. Allyssa Weatherd, who entered the game ninth in NCAA DII in field goal percentage (59.7), was held to two points in the first half. She finished with 11 points on just 2-of-10 shooting.

The Cougars (21-3/15-1 PacWest) used their press to force 16 Dominican turnovers in the first half. That resulted in 13 first-quarter points off of turnovers for Azusa Pacific. A key moment came with the game tied at 11-11. Joelle Tampien made a pair of free throws, then Elana Ala came up with back-to-back steals that led to easy fastbreak layups and a 17-11 Cougars lead. From there, the lead grew to 13, though Dominican finished the quarter on a 10-4 run to trim the deficit to 34-27 by halftime.

Miriam Zabinksy, who had just one point in the two teams' last meeting, led all players with 19 points en route to the Cougars' ninth consecutive win. Cydnie Jones added 17 points, Joelle Tampien came off the bench for 16, and Maggie Dumphy added a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Dominican's defense held Kelly Hardeman, who went for a career-high 33 points the last time the two teams played, to two points on 1-of-8 shooting.

Dominican used an 8-4 run to start the third half and cut the lead to three, 38-35. However, the Penguins fouled, which led to Azusa Pacific free throws the next two possessions. Dominican trailed 52-44 to end the third quarter but the Cougars started the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run. The Penguins would get no closer than 11 points.

Dominican returns home to the Conlan Center to close out the home schedule. The Penguins face Bay Area rival Academy of Art on Saturday, Feb. 20 and Dixie State on Monday, Feb. 22. Saturday is Beach Night and fans are encouraged to wear beach apparel as summer comes early to the Ice Box. On Monday, Dominican's three seniors — Melissa Boscarino, Jessy Marshall, and Weatherd — will be honored in a pregame ceremony and Dominican will raise awareness for cancer as part of Play 4Kay. Tipoff for both games is slated for 5:30 p.m. Live stats and pay-per-view video will be available at dominicanathletics.com/live with live audio provided by Penguin Radio and the student broadcasters at radio.dominican.edu.