AZUSA, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's basketball team lost 97-93 in a double overtime thriller to Azusa Pacific Saturday afternoon. 
 
From the start, Azusa Pacific (10-10/8-4 PacWest) focused their defense on PacWest scoring and rebounding leader Sandra Ikeora, limiting her to one point in the first quarter. Ikeora's teammates seized the resulting scoring opportunities as reserves Alyssa Lorenzo and Alexis Price each hit three-pointers, but the Penguins ended the quarter trailing 18-12.
 
Dominican (11-10/7-7 PacWest) opened the second quarter with back-to-back turnovers, but a three-pointer by Alanna Scott pulled them within three. Dominican was held without a field goal for the next five minutes and only converted 4-of-12 free-throw attempts, but defended well and cut the Cougar lead to 22-21 on an Ikeora layup with 3:54 to play in the first half. APU then had four different players hit three-pointers on four straight possessions to extend the lead to 34-24. The Penguins responded to close out the half on a 10-0 run as five different players scored in the final two minutes to tie the game at 34 all. The Penguins were plagued by 14 turnovers in the first half, but shot 6-of-9 from three-point land while Ikeora was limited to three field goal attempts.
 
Lorenzo opened the second half with a three-pointer to give the Penguins their first lead in over 16 minutes. The sophomore guard torched the Cougars for seven points in the quarter along with Carly Holboke, whose two three-pointers gave the Penguins a 57-53 lead at the end of the third. 

The veteran Cougars overtook the Penguins for a 65-60 lead halfway through the fourth, but the relentless Ikeora put in two quick buckets to tie the game. A clutch Holboke three-pointer from the top of the key completed an 11-1 run and gave Dominican a 71-66 lead with just two minutes remaining. APU tied the game at the free-throw line with 18 seconds remaining and the teams then traded free-throws until the Penguins had the ball with 6.7 seconds left, but were unable to get a shot off.
 
In Dominican's first overtime game of the season, Ikeora fouled out with 3:09 left, overcoming a slow start to finish the night with 15 points and 17 rebounds. Dominican had five different players score in overtime and grabbed the largest lead of the period at 84-81 after an Ashley Sorensen layup. APU countered with a layup and free throws to tie the game with eight seconds left. The Penguins drove the length of the court and missed a contested layup at the buzzer to head into double overtime.
 
In a game that featured 65 fouls and 99 free-throws, the Penguins had five players foul out, leaving only five healthy players available to close out the game. Azusa Pacific built a 94-90 lead in the final minute of double overtime as the Penguins appeared out of gas, but Holboke banked in a deep three-pointer from the wing to pull within one with twenty seconds to play. The Cougars hit their free-throws down the stretch and the Penguins ran out of magic, ultimately losing by four. 

Lorenzo played a game-high 42 minutes, easily eclipsing her previous career-high of 19 points to score 32 points on 16-of-18 free throw shooting. Holboke ended the night with a season-high 23 points, netting 6-of-9 three-pointers. Azusa Pacific was led by juniors Gabrielle Kaiser and Abigail Goodsell, who had 25 points apiece and combined to make 24 free-throws.
 
The Penguins now have a week off before making the trip down to Fresno Pacific on Saturday, February 4. You can follow along with the 2:30 p.m. tip-off at dominicanathletics.com/live and twitter.com/dominican_wbb.