SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball was unable to keep up with the fast pace of Fresno Pacific University in an 87-74 loss Saturday afternoon at the Conlan Center.

Senior forward Jerusha Paine led the Penguins (7-13, 4-10 PacWest) with 20 points and four rebounds, while Brittney Cedeno finished with 16 points, six rebounds and six assists. Jessica Malazarte put Dominican on its heels the entire game as she pushed the pace on her way to 28 points for the Sunbirds (11-10, 8-7 PacWest). Cassie Pisik added 14 points and 17 rebounds, while FPU finished with a 33-17 advantage in fast break points.

Malazarte pushed the ball from the very first possession as she weaved through defenders in transition for a layup and Bayli McClard added the next five points for the Sunbirds to build a 7-2 lead. Malazarte knocked down her first 3-pointer of the game with 6:16 remaining in the quarter to spark another 5-0 run to push the lead to eight at the midway point of the quarter. After Malazarte scored four more fast break points to push the lead to 11, the Penguins took advantage of FPU foul trouble to score the final seven points of the quarter as Cedeno knocked down a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound and then Camryn Figueroa ahead of the pack in transition to make it 23-19 heading to the second quarter.

Dominican scored the opening four points of the second with two free-throws by Paine tying the game at 23. Jessica Armstrong then led the Penguins on a 6-0 run making a baseline jumper before finding Paine underneath the basket for two more to give Dominican the 29-26 lead with five minutes left in the half. The teams continued to trade baskets and Paine finished the half with a good post move inside for a layup to send Dominican into the break leading 34-32.

Felicia Dourva and Malazarte opened the second half for the Sunbirds with back-to-back 3-pointers in an 8-0 run to retake the lead at 40-34 in the first two minutes. Malazarte hit from the outside again before connecting on 1-of-2 free throws to end a 9-0 run that extended the lead into double digits for the first time at 48-36 with 3:47 left in the third. 

Dominican slowly chipped away at the lead with Armstrong and Paine putting in back-to-back layups to cut the lead to 60-55 with 8:27 left in the game. Paine then sparked a 7-0 run with an old fashioned 3-point play before tying the game at 64 with a layup with 3:40 remaining, but the Sunbirds answered with a 9-1 run to take a 73-65 lead heading to the final two minutes. The Penguins were unable to muster one last run and FPU held on for the victory.

Dominican will have a quick turnaround as it hosts Holy Names University Monday at 5:30 p.m. PST at the Conlan Center. Live video and stats will be available online.