OAKLAND, Calif. – Completing a stretch of four-consecutive road games, the Dominican University of California women's basketball team cruised to an 86-67 victory on Wednesday at Holy Names.
In a tremendous performance on both ends of the floor, the Penguins' defense forced 20 turnovers from the Hawks and converted those opportunities into 28 points.
Offensively, Dominican shot 48.3 percent from the field while sinking seven of its 16 three-point attempts.
Jade Castro and
Sandra Ikeora totaled 22 points apiece to lead the Penguins' attack. Off the bench,
Ashley Sorensen grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds in 17 minutes of action.
The win pushes Dominican to 13-10 overall and 9-7 in the PacWest. Holy Names drops to 2-19 overall and 2-13 in league action.
After the two teams traded points through the early portion of the first quarter, the Penguins closed out the frame with a 12-3 run to take a 20-12 advantage. To cap off that stretch of scoring,
Natalie Diaz dropped in a layup and then her steal on the next defensive possession led to a Sorensen basket to close out the quarter's scoring.
Less than two minutes into the second quarter,
Vanessa Cruz knocked down a jumper to push the Penguins' lead into double digits. Later in the frame, Dominican got back-to-back threes from Castro and
Alanna Scott. Castro added another triple later in the quarter and heading into the break, Dominican led the Hawks 47-29.
The Penguins' offense didn't slow down in the final two quarters. While Castro finished with a 4-for-5 mark from long distance, Dominican pushed its advantage to 68-45 at the close of the third quarter. Although HNU outscored the Penguins 22-18 in the fourth, the visitors' comfortable lead stayed intact and Dominican finished with the 19-point win.
Cruz proved to be a key catalyst offensively on Wednesday, dishing out a team-high five assists. Ikeora bolstered the defensive effort with three blocks.
With Wednesday's result, the Penguins completed a regular season sweep of HNU after topping the Hawks 66-56 on Dec. 1 in the PacWest opener.
Up next for Dominican is Friday's 5:30 p.m. home matchup against Notre Dame De Namur. It will be Willie Long Night at the Conlan Center.
