SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Senior forward Natalie Diaz dominated the offensive end of the floor to lead Dominican women's basketball to a 77-58 victory Thursday night over Concordia University Irvine at the Conlan Center. 

Diaz blew past her previous career high with 41 points and six rebounds in 31 minutes of action. Senior guard Alanna Scott neared a triple-double for the Penguins (3-1, 1-0 PacWest) with 12 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Julia Razo chipped in 11 points for Dominican. 

Riley Frauf led the Eagles (0-5, 0-1 PacWest) with 15 points and five rebounds, while Tiana Lowry added 12 points and seven rebounds. 

The Penguins dominated the paint, outscoring CUI by 30 points, on its way to 52.2 percent shooting from the field. Dominican coupled that with a strong defensive effort, holding the Eagles to 32.1 percent from the field and 18.2 percent from behind the arc.

The teams traded points for the first seven minutes of the game when Diaz went on a personal 9-0 run. Diaz attacked the basket and scored through contact several times to give the Penguins the 21-14 lead with two minutes left in the period. Neither team scored for the remainder of the period.

Lowry sparked CUI on the comeback trail with a 3-point make and it tied the game at 25 on a layup by Kennedy Fulcher with 4:47 left in the half. Diaz converted another old-fashioned 3-point play to halt the Eagles momentum and Savannah McMorrow came off the bench for two layups to extend the lead back to six a minute later. The teams traded baskets for the final few minutes of the half and the Penguins headed to the locker room leading 34-28.

Dominican used strong defense in to extend its lead in the third quarter causing three CUI turnovers and Diaz poured in 12 points during a five-minute, 18-4 run. The Penguins took a commanding lead and held even with the Eagles over the final two minutes of the period to take a 58-41 lead into the final period of play.

Scott led the Penguins on a 13-point run in the first four minutes of the fourth, jump-starting the run with a 3-pointer from the corner to give Dominican the 71-41 lead. It was all downhill from that point as the Penguins cruised to victory.

The Penguins will take its home court again Saturday against Point Loma Nazarene University at 5 p.m. PST at the Conlan Center. Dominican will be hosting its annual CYO Youth night with free admission for all youth in the eighth grade and younger that come dressed in a jersey. Live stats and video will be available online.