SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball rode strong second and third quarters to a 63-52 win Saturday afternoon over Chaminade at the Conlan Center.

Senior forward Jerusha Paine returned from injury to lead the Penguins (4-6, 1-3 PacWest) with a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds to go with five assists. Senior guard Marisa Mondave added 13 points and eight rebounds, while junior guard Julia Razo chipped in 11 points and six rebounds.

Destiny Castro led the Silverswords (2-8, 2-3 PacWest) with 23 points and seven steals, while Arianna Blowe finished with nine points and three steals. Dominican shot 51.9% from the floor and 31.3% from behind the arc, while holding Chaminade to 29.3% from the field and 21.4% on 3-pointers.

Nicole Gleeson highlighted a strong 6-0 run to start the game for Dominican as she stole the ball and took it the other way for a fastbreak layup for the Penguins. Castro bookended a 3-pointer from Blowe with a pair of midrange jumpers to take their only lead of the game. Mondave and Paine connected on back-to-back layups to retake the lead and the Penguins finished the quarter with the 14-13 lead.

Dominican scored the first five points of the second quarter as Sydney Larocca scooped a ball over Razo on a fastbreak to make it 19-13 with 6:11 until the half. From there the teams continued to trade baskets with Paine finding a cutting Gleeson for the final points of the first half to send the Penguins into the break leading 29-22. 

Razo caught fire to start the second half as she stole the ball and laid it in for the first points of the half before knocking down a 3-pointer to make it 34-24 Dominican. Brittney Cedeno and Paine each scored five points in a 14-2 Dominican run as the lead grew to 20 with 1:38 left in the period. Chaminade went on a quick 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 13, but Mondave made her way into the paint for a layup to make it 50-35 heading to the fourth. 

Cedeno hit her second 3-pointer of the game to open the scoring in the second half before Camryn Figueroa and Mondave each knocked down their own shots behind the arc to take a large lead of 21 with five minutes remaining. The Penguins were able to cruise over the final minutes to the victory.

Domincian will return to the court Tuesday, Dec. 31, as they travel south to take on Academy of Art at 1 p.m. PST at Kezar Pavilion. Live stats and video will be available online.