Irvine, Calif. – Concordia University Irvine (6-5, 3-2) handed Dominican University of California (7-5, 4-1) its first conference loss of the season, earning the victory with a decisive 79-60 margin.
 
Concordia Irvine led the early charge as it tallied the matchup's first four points with graduate student Riley Friauf eventually putting Dominican on the board with a pair of successful free throws. The Eagles' Michaela Vanderklugt and Dominican senior Jordan Charlton traded baskets over the ensuing possessions, with each player notching two baskets for their respective squads.
 
Senior Errayanna Hatfield tied the game at 8-8 with 3:58 remaining in the opening frame when she converted on a layup, then giving Dominican the lead on its next possession when she nailed a 3-pointer. Charlton played copy-cat with a long ball of her own on the Penguins' next possession following a CUI bucket to give Dominican a 14-11 advantage, but successful free throws brought CUI back within one.
 
Neither team saw a lead greater than one possession over the duration of the final three minutes, but Dominican was able to gain a three-point lead when senior Brittney Cedeno buried a close-range jumper to give the Penguins a 21-18 lead after the opening stanza.
 
Cedeno opened the second quarter similarly to how she closed the preceding frame to put Dominican up five, but CUI's Vanderklugt kept her team close with another jumper. Hatfield stole Dominican's five-point lead back on the teams' next possession, but, in similar fashion to before, Vanderklught brought her team back within three.
 
Freshman Alex Salise put Dominican up four after a trip to the foul line, but the successful charity shot kicked CUI into gear as made apparent by the 18-2 Eagles' run that ensued. Hatfield eventually hit a jumper with 1:42 remaining to help halt the CUI point haul, but a Jasmine Rachal layup with 36 seconds left in the half meant that Dominican would find itself with an 11-point deficit heading into the locker rooms.
 
A Charlton layup welcomed the teams back to the hardwood, a shot that was soon answered by a CUI layup. Dominican got as close as nine a pair of possessions later when Friauf was successful from the foul line, but CUI turned up the tempo as a 7-0 run ensued to put the Penguins down by 16.
 
A San Juan lay-in stopped the run with 2:47 remaining in the third, but Dominican continued to struggle to gain any footing as the Eagles matched every shot. A pair of positive Hatfield charity shots brought the quarter to a close with Dominican trailing by 13 as the score read 58-45.
 
A Katie Timmerman 3-pointer put CUI back up by 16 to start the final frame, preceding a an eventual successful foul shot by the same shooter to put CUI up 17 after Friauf secured a pair of points. Dominican's slightest disadvantage came with 5:39 remaining when Friauf and Cedeno traded baskets to lessen the lead to 11, but the Eagles continued to pour it on as a 7-0 run ensued to put them back up 18.
 
Friauf and Charlton both tallied buckets down the stretch but the Eagles' sharp shooting proved to be too much as CUI handed Dominican its first conference loss of the season, winning 79-60.
 
Cedeno secured a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds while Friauf notched a team-high 17 points, also adding three rebounds and a pair of assists. Hatfield finished with 14 points and five rebounds with Charlton rounding out the list of Dominican players with 10 or more points, securing 13.
 
Dominican now looks ahead to after the holidays when it plays host to conference leaders Azusa Pacific on New Year's Day in the Conlan Center.