LA MIRADA, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball withstood a late run by Biola University to hang on for a 67-61 victory Thursday night at Chase Gymnasium.

The Penguins (21-4, 18-3 PacWest) clinched a first-round bye at next week's PacWest Basketball Championships with the victory. Senior forward Natalie Diaz recorded her 11th double-double of the season for Dominican with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Junior guard Marisa Mondave added 24 points, six rebounds and three steals, while senior guard Alanna Scott chipped in 17 points and three steals.

Jazz Benn led the Eagles (10-17, 8-13 PacWest) with 14 points and six rebounds. Tatum Brimley caught fire late to finish with 13 points, six rebounds and two key steals. 

After neither team could generate much offense to start the fourth, Tatum Brimley took over in the final five minutes scoring nine unanswered for Biola to cut the lead to 61-58 with 2:35 remaining. Jazz Benn swooped down the lane for a layup to cut it to one and it looked like the Eagles would have a chance to continue the run after a charge was initially awarded on a drive by Mondave on the following possession. Officials met and determined that Danita Estorga was inside the charge arc reversing the call and counting Mondave's layup to give Dominican a 63-60 lead with 59 seconds remaining. 

The Penguin defense stepped up to make the difference in the closing seconds as Diaz stripped a ball from Aysia Johnson as she cut into the lane looking for the tie. Diaz then knocked down the free throws to make it a two-possession game. Scott got into the action with a steal on the next possession and cashed in on her visit to the charity stripe to put the game out of reach at 67-61 with 10 seconds left on the clock. 

The Eagles jumped ahead 6-2 early in the game after Jelissa Puckett knocked down a 3-pointer with 7:47 left in the period, but Mondave caught fire to give the Penguins the lead. Mondave scored all the Penguins points in a 10-3 run, including knocking down her first 3-pointer to make it 12-9 Dominican with 5:47 remaining in the quarter. The Penguins defense stepped up in the final five minutes causing several turnovers and Scott stole the ball and hit a transition jumper to extend the lead to seven heading to the second.

Dominican continued to disrupt Biola's offensive attack to start the second period as Anjelica Collins stole the ball on one end leading to a Diaz layup and Diaz followed up with a steal and score to push the lead into double digits in the first two minutes. Scott found Diaz in the corner for a 3-pointer with 5:29 left in the half to make it 32-19 in favor of the Penguins. The teams traded baskets the remainder of the half until Johnson knocked down a late 3-pointer for Biola to trim Dominican's lead to 37-27 at the half.

The teams traded points for the first five minutes of the second half until Sara Dougan and Johnson knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to cap a 10-2 run and cut the Eagles deficit to 46-44. Diaz found Scott in the corner on the next possession for the answer before rejecting Biola's next field goal attempt. Mondave hit a 3-pointer from the opposite corner and Scott finished the run pulling up for a long jumper to make it 54-44. Brenna Khaw beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer to Biola back within single digits at 55-47.

Dominican will conclude its regular season Saturday against conference front runner Azusa Pacific at 5:30 p.m. PST at the Felix Event Center. Live video and stats will be available online.