HONOLULU – Dominican women's basketball ended its road frustrations at Hawai'i Pacific University with a 97-86 victory Wednesday night, its first ever at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.

"HPU has always been a tough place to play," head coach Tim LaKose said. "Tonight was another hard fought game in the Blaisdell, but our team was focused and hungry."

Junior guard Marisa Mondave led the way with a career-high 30 points and made it a double-double with a team-high 11 rebounds. Senior forward Natalie Diaz added 28 points on 10-for-15 shooting to go with five rebounds, while junior guard Alanna Scott chipped in 27 points hitting 14-for-17 from the free-throw line to seal the game for the Penguins (17-3, 14-2 PacWest).

Amy Baum led the Sharks (16-6, 14-2 PacWest) with a double-double of 27 points and 14 rebounds to go with nine assists and six steals. Samantha Lambrigsten added 16 points for HPU. 

Dominican shot a blistering 54.9 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from behind the arc, while limiting the Sharks to 41.9 and 30.3 percent, respectively. The Penguins led for all but 42 seconds of the game.

Dominican got off to a strong start as Scott, Mondave and Diaz each hit 3-pointers to build a 12-2 run in the first three minutes of the game. The teams continued to trade points, but HPU slowly cut into the lead as Lauryn Hippolite cut the lead to six with a layup, but Mondave answered with a 3-pointer from the left elbow to end the momentum and give the Penguins the 22-13 lead heading to the second.

Anjelica Collins knocked down a 3-pointer to start the second and extend the lead to 12 and keep the momentum on Dominican's side. Diaz and Mondave continued their hot shooting to extend the lead to 15 after a pair of 3-pointers, but HPU was able to begin chipping into the lead late in the half. Lambrigsten bookended a 10-2 run with a layup and a 3-pointer to pull the Sharks within nine at 39-30, but Mondave again connected from behind the arc to put an end to the run. The teams traded points over the final two minutes and Dominican took a 44-36 lead into the locker room.

Diaz came out on fire in the third period with four quick points during an 8-3 run to open the half and extend the lead to 52-39 with 8:13 left in the period. Diaz scored seven consecutive points for the Penguins to jump-start an 18-4 run that pushed the lead to 70-45 in the final minute of the period, before Alysha Marcucci hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds for Hawaii Pacific.

The Sharks caught a break early in the fourth as Vanessa Cruz and Sydney Larocca picked up their fifth fouls in the first five minutes. HPU seized on the foul trouble and Marcucci found a cutting Starr Rivera for a layup to cut the lead to 76-63 with 3:53 remaining. The Sharks began intentionally fouling in an attempt to get back into the game late, cutting the lead back to seven with 1:41 remaining, but Dominican sealed the victory from the free-throw line.

The Penguins will head next to Chaminade with tipoff scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time Friday at McCabe Gymnasium. Live stats and video will be available online.