BELMONT, Calif. – Senior forward
Jerusha Paine powered Dominican women's basketball to an 87-69 victory Sunday afternoon over Chico State in the final game of the PacWest/CCAA Tipoff Challenge at Walter Gleason Gymnasium.
Paine finished with a game-high 28 points to go with five rebounds for the Penguins (1-1). Senior guard
Marisa Mondave added 15 points and nine rebounds, while
Sydney Larocca had 11 points and five assists in the victory. Maddy Wong powered the Wildcats (1-1) with 17 points, but they were overwhelmed in the paint by an aggressive Dominican attack.
The Penguins finished with a 38-16 advantage in points in the paint on their way to shooting 52.9% from the field and 45.5% from behind the arc. Chico State was held to 34.8% shooting from the field and 36.1% from behind the arc while battling foul trouble.
The teams traded points for the first eight minutes of the game until
Julia Razo knocked down a 3-pointer in transition and Paine followed with a layup in traffic to give Dominican a 20-15 lead. Jasmine Hess stole a ball away from the Penguins and scored on the other end to turn the momentum. Vanessa Holland then knocked down a shot behind the arc for the Wildcats in the final seconds of the period to tie the game at 20.
The seesaw battle continued for the first five minutes of the second period until Larocca knocked down a jumper with five minutes left in the half to start a 14-3 run and the Penguins remained aggressive on the offensive end to go to the free-throw line and put CSU in foul trouble.
Camryn Figueroa then made a beautiful cut to the basket and finished through contact with 2:40 left on the clock to take the 36-31 lead.
Jessica Armstrong finished the run with an offensive rebound and putback as the time expired to give the Penguins a 42-32 lead at the break.
Paine kept the Dominican momentum rolling in the third as she laid it in on the Penguins first possession of the half and then finished through contact for an old-fashioned 3-point play to make it 47-32. Paine then drew a double team and found Mondave cutting through the paint for another layup to extend the lead to 17. Larocca swooped down the right side of the lane twice to make it 58-37 with three minutes left in the period and the lead grew to as many as 23 in the period.
Paine pushed the lead back to 23 in the first two minutes of the fourth, catching a pass from Larocca between two defenders for a layup on the opening possession and then drawing a foul and knocking down both free throws on the next possession. Dominican had an answer for every Chico State basket, not allowing any potential Wildcat comeback in the final minutes of the game.
The Penguins will host San Francisco State in its home opener Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. PDT at the Conlan Center. Live video and stats will be available online.
