Box Score RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball earned their first win over California Baptist in program history, holding on for a thrilling 79-72 victory in the first round of the PacWest tournament Thursday at the CBU Events Center.
Junior
Natalie Diaz led the Penguins with 27 points, including 20 in the second half, and 11 rebounds. Sophomore
Vanessa Cruz finished with 19 points, knocking down 5 of 6 attempts from the 3-point line. Senior
Sandra Ikeora added a double-double of her own with 17 points and 17 rebounds. Tori Mitchell and Blaysen Varnadoe each tallied 17 points to lead the Lancers.
"We were really confident that we could win this game and now that we have, we're confident we can win this tournament," said head coach
Tim LaKose.
The Penguins took an early lead as freshman Sidney Larocca found a lane to finish off a driving layup, then took one coast-to-coast in transition for another easy basket to give Dominican a 9-3 edge. Neither team shot it well in the first period, but CBU slowly chipped away at their deficit throughout the frame and tied the game, 14-14, with a jumper in the paint from Varnadoe. Ikeora then responded with a 3-pointer as time expired in the first quarter, hitting her first attempt from behind the arc all season to give the Penguins a 17-14 lead going into the second quarter.
Cruz hit back-to-back jumpers, followed by a triple, to begin the second period as the Penguins took a 24-22 lead. Later in the quarter, Diaz was able to seal her defender in the paint and made a nice spin move to finish in the paint and put the Penguins ahead 30-27. With 90 seconds left before halftime, Mitchell put in a layup to tie the game, 30-30. After sophomore
Anjelica Collins put in a pair of free throws to tie things again at 32-32, Ane Olatea took the ensuing inbounds pass and went the length of the court, beating the buzzer with a tough layup to put CBU ahead 34-32 at the break
.
After the Lancers scored back-to-back baskets in the paint to start the third quarter, Cruz answered with another 3-pointer. CBU continued to find success in transition but Cruz remained hot, as Diaz grabbed an offensive rebound and found her at the top of the key where she knocked down another triple, trimming Dominican's deficit to 40-38. A couple of possessions later, Diaz dropped one off to Ikeora, who completed an and-1 to give the Penguins a 43-42 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the period. After CBU jumped back in front, junior
Alanna Scott hit a corner 3-pointer to put Dominican back in front, 48-46. Varnadoe responded with a 3-pointer of her own, Collins answered with another, and Varnadoe stayed hot with one more triple as the two sides went back-and-forth with the lead changing hands 12 times in the period. Ikeora then found Diaz for an elbow jumper as the Penguins seesawed back in front, 53-52. Varnadoe hit a tough floater to end the frame, giving CBU a 56-55 going into the fourth quarter.
Things remained tight in the final period as Cruz nailed another 3-pointer to give Dominican a 60-59 edge with seven minutes left to play. Diaz then followed with a difficult driving bank shot, forcing the Lancers to call timeout. Coming out of the break, Diaz followed up her own miss and put it back in to push the Penguins' lead to 64-59. CBU refused to go away as Georgia Dale completed an and-1 to tie the game midway through the quarter. Later in the period, Ikeora drove the lane and found Collins for a corner triple, putting Dominican back ahead, 71-68. Diaz then followed with a jumper to stretch the Penguins' lead back to five. With Dominican holding tightly to a 75-72 lead in the final minute, the Penguins got a stop and forced the Lancers to foul, sending Cruz to the line with 17 seconds left. She calmly stepped up to the line and sank both to give Dominican a 77-72 advantage. The Penguins got the defensive stops they needed, hanging on for the win.
Dominican takes on Hawaii Pacific Friday at 12:30 p.m. in the PacWest tournament semifinal. Live stats and video will be available online.
