ARCATA, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball fell 63-47 Saturday night to Humboldt State at Lumberjack Arena to finish the HSU Thanksgiving Classic.
The Penguins (3-3) struggled to find an offensive rhythm as they shot 27% from the field. Senior guard
Marisa Mondave led Dominican with 16 points and five rebounds. Senior forward
Jerusha Paine recorded her fourth straight double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds, while freshman guard
Nicole Gleeson added 10 points and six boards.
Alexia Thrower led the Jacks (6-1) with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Gabrielle Carbajal chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds. Humboldt State finished shooting 37.1% from the field and 29.2 percent from behind the arc.
Dominican got off to a quick start as
Brittney Cedeno and Mondave cut down the lane for back-to-back layups. Mondave capped the 8-2 run with another layup, but Madeline Hatch knocked down a 3-pointer to finish a 7-0 run for HSU to take the 9-8 lead midway through the quarter. The Jacks were able to slowly build a six-point lead, but Mondave finished through contact for an old fashioned 3-point play to cut the deficit to three with 59 seconds remaining. The Jacks acted quickly as Jasmine Reupenny hit a jumper before Tyra Turner stole the ball and Molly Dixon sank a 3-pointer to make it 23-15 heading into the second.
The first five minutes of the second quarter was a defensive battle between the teams until Sandin Kidder sunk a 3-pointer and Thrower added one of her own seconds later to make it 33-19 with 3:55 left in the half. The teams traded points and HSU took the 14-point lead into the break.
The Jacks outscored the Penguins 12-4 to open the second half as they took a 49-27 lead with 3:24 left on the clock. Paine was able to get a couple of layups in the paint to cut the lead back under 20 as Dominican trailed 51-32 heading to the fourth.
Mondave hit the Penguins first 3-pointer of the game with 4:29 left in regulation and Cedeno found her on a long pass to spark an 8-0 run that cut the deficit to 14 with two minutes remaining. Madeline Hatch hit a midrange jumper to end Dominican's momentum and HSU held on for the victory.
Dominican will return home Thursday to open PacWest play against Point Loma Nazarene University at 5:30 p.m. PST at the Conlan Center. The Penguins will welcome in youth teams from local organizations for its annual Youth Night. Live stats and video will be available.
