Oakland, Calif. – Junior Brittney Cedeno set a Dominican single-game record as she recorded eight steals to help Dominican to a 74-42 victory over Holy Names.
 
Dominican's offense soared out of the gates to a 9-0 run courtesy of a pair of Alaiyah San Juan layups, Riley Friauf free throws and a Maiya Flores lay-in. The teams traded buckets over the ensuing possessions, but the San Juan – Friauf duo proved to be too much for the Hawks to handle as they single handedly outscored Holy Names 15-7 in the opening frame.
 
Holy names grabbed the first bucket of the second frame after a cross-court inbound found an open Hawk who finished the play with an easy lay-in. Cedeno saved Dominican's next possession when she dove out of bounds to keep the ball in play, eventually setting up a pair of Friauf free throws that put the Penguins back up by 10. Cedeno continued to embrace her playmaker role on the next possession, sending a no-look, cross-body pass to senior Jordan Charlton who completed the play with a lay-in, setting the score to 21-9.
 
Freshman Alex Salise drained a 3-pointer on the ensuing trip down the court, preceding a San Juan steal that she soon followed up with a pass to Friauf who laid the ball in. Dominican tallied another quick steal soon after, with Friauf closing the defensive clinic with a pair of successful free throws. Friauf then forced Holy Names to take a timeout when she found the basket for the third time in as many possessions, giving Dominican a 10-0 run as the score read 29-9.
 
Holy Names halted the Penguin press with a bucket from beyond the arc, its first basket since the first possession of the quarter, then netting another shot on its next possession after snagging a pair of offensive rebounds. Salise stopped the Hawks' 5-0 run with a long ball of her own, with Cedeno again finding Friauf on the Penguins' next possession to put Dominican back up by 20. Another Penguins steal led to a Jazmine Barnes short-range jumper to end the quarter, again assisted by Cedeno, putting Dominican up 40-14 as Cedeno tallied her third and final assist of the quarter.
 
Holy Names connected on the half's first basket in the form of a contested layup, then earning another bucket before Barnes notched Dominican's first basket of the half. San Juan drilled a 3-pointer before Cedeno earned a lay-in to place Dominican ahead 47-20 prior to the first media timeout of the half. Salise drove the corner lane and finished with a layup as the teams broke from their respective benches, preceding another San Juan triple that put Dominican up 29.
 
Sophomore Ysobelle Eustaquio drained a long two following a Holy Names 3-pointer that set the score to 54-26. Sophomore Rylee Sarasua later juked her defender before sending a floater through the twine for her first score of the afternoon to put the Penguins up 30 before a pair of Hawks baskets lessened the lead before the end of the quarter as Dominican owned a 56-30 lead.
 
Holy Names found the board twice before the Penguins garnered a bucket in the final frame as Eustaquio earned her first 3-pointer of the game. Sarasua drilled a bucket soon after, but Holy Names answered each possession with baskets of its own. Cedeno converted on a driving layup with just over three minutes to go, then stealing the ball and eventually setting up redshirt junior Ashley Massell for a lay-in. Massell drilled a deep ball after Cedeno converted from the charity stripe to extend the Penguins' lead to 31, with another free throw coming soon after.
 
Freshman Ella Jiminez joined the party with a free throw of her own as time was winding down, marking Dominican's final basket as the buzzer sounded to solidify the 74-42 Dominican victory.
 
Friauf finished with a game-high 17 points, also adding six rebounds, despite only playing 17 minutes as she was forced to exit the game with a lower body injury. Both San Juan and Salise finished with double digit points, netting 14 and 10, respectively, while Cedeno also put-up solid numbers as she finished with seven points, seven rebounds, six assists and an all-time Dominican record of eight steals.