San Rafael, Calif. – The Dominican University of California women's basketball team exited the Conlan Center with a 73-67 victory behind graduate student Riley Friauf's career-high 33 points.

"First and foremost, a win is a win, so congratulations to our ladies for getting the win today," associate head coach Greg Rahn said. "We started strong, played three great quarters, but we're learning how to play with a lead so we have some work to do in the fourth quarter. After a win like this, though, I'm just really proud of our team."

Fresno Pacific started the scoring with a jumper from the key on its second possession, but the basket was soon answered when Friauf scored her first bucket of the night. Senior Errayanna Hatfield found the twine after taking contact inside the key before nailing a pull-up jumper on an ensuing trip down the floor, but the Sun Birds answered with their first deep ball of the night to regain the lead.

Swift ball movement resulted in a Friauf layup after freshman Alaiyah San Juan dished the ball to senior Brittney Cedeno on the baseline who found Friauf under the rim to give Dominican an 8-5 lead. Hatfield and Friauf traded baskets after Fresno Pacific converted on a bucket of its own to bring the lead to 10-7 before Rachel Berry scored a quick two for the Sunbirds that brought the score to 10-9 at the first media timeout.

Fresno Pacific's Felicia Dourva notched a fade away jumper at the conclusion of the timeout before Friauf celebrated a basket of her own with her defender in mid-air after a stop-and-shoot left the Dominican center alone under the rim. Dominican's Abreanna Lake then muscled an and-1 that gave Dominican a four-point, 15-11 lead a pair of possessions later before Cedeno juked around a pair of players to increase the Penguin advantage to six.

Senior Camryn Figueroa tallied a driving lay-in for her first basket of the night, and the final field goal of the opening frame, with 1:21 remaining in the first quarter, preceding a Friauf free throw that brought the score to 20-13 in favor of the Penguins.

Another Figueroa driving lay-in gave Dominican a nine-point lead after the break, but Dourva drained a pull-up three to bring the Sunbirds back within six. Freshman Alessandra Salise converted a circus-like shot just under two minutes into the second frame that brought the score to 24-18, preceding another Sunbirds long-ball as Fresno Pacific slowly battled back.

Friauf notched an off-balance layup after she was pushed by her defender, later finishing the play with a successful foul shot that gave Dominican a 29-21 advantage. Fresno Pacific successfully converted baskets on its next two possessions to bring it back within four at the second media timeout of the half with the scoring showing a 29-25 Dominican lead.

Figeuroa kept up her tradition of converting driving lay-in's out of media breaks when she successfully notched her fifth and sixth points of the game, paving the way for another Friauf bucket that gave Dominican back its eight-point lead. Friauf later drained a pair of late free throws that brought the score to 36-28, but Fresno Pacific stormed back with a shot off the glass on its returning trip down the floor. Dominican was again sent to the line when Lake was fouled hard under the rim with 25 seconds remaining in the half, going 1-for-2 to bring the score to 37-30 at the half.

An 8-2 run set the early tone for the second half with Friauf and senior Jordan Charlton each netting a pair of baskets in the opening moments. Friauf found Cedeno near the rim seconds later before Cedeno made no mistake in earning another pair of points while bringing the score to 49-34.

San Juan forced a turnover with 5:26 remaining, eventually setting up a Lake and-1 after she took a hard foul that still couldn't stop the ball from finding the twine. The ensuing shot was missed, but the initial basket gave Dominican a 17-point advantage at the media timeout.

Fresno Pacific tallied a pair of shots from the charity stripe when play ensued, then notching its first consecutive baskets of the half a pair of possessions later. A third consecutive basket was made to bring the score to 51-40, but Salise found a thundering answer when she hit the first Dominican 3-pointer of the afternoon. Freshman Jazmine Barnes beat the buzzer when she looked up at the clock with seven seconds remaining before hitting a speed burst that brought her inside the key, then juking her defender with a 360 and laying the ball in the hoop, giving Dominican a 56-41 lead heading into the final frame.

Friauf welcomed the foes back to the floor with a mid-range jumper after Fresno Pacific converted on a layup, bringing the score to 58-43. Barnes played dish master when she found Friauf unprotected under the rim on the next trip down the floor that led to an easy Dominican bucket before finding San Juan unprotected at the arc, a play that ended with a Fresno Pacific timeout after the freshman drained the long-ball.

Friauf's basket to open the final frame gave her a season-high 28 points, a number she later increased when she was sent to the line with 5:30 remaining in the game. She added another basket to her stat line when the teams returned to the floor after the media timeout, preceding yet another one of her own buckets with 3:42 remaining.
Successful Sunbirdsfree throws brought the score to 69-58 before a steal preceded another Fresno Pacific bucket as the Sun Birds found themselves within nine. Another steal gave Fresno Pacific possession with 1:38 remaining on the clock with Drova eventually capitalizing on the opportunity to bring the Dominican lead down to seven. San Juan connected on a clutch bucket with 56 seconds remaining to give back Dominican's nine-point advantage that led to a Sunbirdstimeout as the Penguins tried to close out Fresno Pacific late in the second half.

Dominican defense locked down the Sunbirds on their next possession, but a steal on the in-bound pass gave the Sunbirds the ball back. Dourva hit another bucket after the Sunbirds missed a trio of shots but corralled their own rebounds, bringing the score to 71-64. San Juan was fouled with 12.1 seconds remaining, laying to rest any final hopes of a Fresno Pacific comeback when she nailed both shots to give Dominican a nine-point lead.

Dourva converted another 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining, but it wasn't enough as Dominican walked out with a 73-67 victory.

"We really had to stay in the game both mentally and physically late in the fourth quarter, and games like this really help show us what we need to keep working on," Salise said.

Friauf finished the game with a career and game-high 33 points, adding 16 rebounds to successfully claim yet another monstrous double-double. San Juan finished the matchup with nine points while Cedeno dished out a game-high six assists while also gathering seven rebounds.

"I have to give thanks to our coaches, they've really built my confidence," Friauf said. "Over the last couple of years, little by little, I really feel like it's been my teammates and coaches that gave me the confidence needed to now preform. It helps a lot to know that people believe in my scoring ability."

Dominican will bring its 2-0 conference record back to the Conlan Center on Tuesday when Chaminade University of Hawaii pays San Rafael a visit at 5:30 p.m.

To listen to the live call of the game from Penguin Radio, click here.