Box Score AZUSA, California -- Despite the return of senior Sandra Ikeora, Dominican women's basketball lost to Azusa Pacific 125-78 at the Felix Events Center.
 
Ikeora led the Penguins (15-7, 9-5 PacWest) with 22 points and six rebounds. Junior Natalie Diaz earned another double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while freshman Sydney Larocca posted 12 points and sophomore Marisa Mondave scored 11. Zoe March and Rachel Bozlee led Azusa (22-3, 13-2 PacWest) with 25 points and 24 points.
 
Ikeora got the start in the game after missing a month of action due to injury. Junior Alanna Scott got the Penguins on the board with a 3-pointer after a Diaz steal for the opening points of the game. Ikeora followed with back-to-back layups to extend the lead 7-3. The game continued to go back and forth for the next five minutes with Dominican holding a slight edge.
 
The Cougars' Zoe March hit a 3-pointer to give Azusa Pacific its first lead of the game at 21-18 with 2:34 left in the first period. That kicked off a 10-0 run for the Cougars including six points in 30 seconds to open the second quarter, giving Azusa Pacific a 31-20 lead over Dominican.
 
Going into the second quarter, Ikeora drew a foul and hit two free throws to end Azusa's run, but turnovers aided another 8-point Cougar surge to extend their lead to 17 points. Dominican would not be able to catch up the rest of the quarter as they allowed the Cougars to score 28 points off turnovers in the first half. Azusa lead Dominican 64-43 entering the first half.
 
Diaz scored a quick layup to open the third quarter 64-45, but it didn't stop the Cougars from going on another 7-0 run as a layup by Abbigail Goodsell extended the lead over Dominican to 27 points with 7:52 left in the third. Three minutes later, a Casey Wortley layup pushed the lead to 31. The Cougars outscored the Penguins 33-17 in the third to enter the final quarter with a 98-62 Azusa lead.
 
The lead grew to as many as 43 points in the fourth quarter as the Cougars coasted in the fourth. Azusa Pacific ended the night with 48 points on the 33 Dominican turnovers to take the victory 125-78.
 
Dominican travels to La Mirada, California, Monday to face Biola at 5:30 p.m. PST at Chase Gymnasium. Live stats and video will be available online.