BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Dominican women's basketball was unable to keep pace with No. 13 Western Washington in an 84-40 loss Friday evening in its opener of the Lynda Goodrich Classic at Carver Gymnasium.
Brittney Cedeno led the Penguins (2-3) with eight points, seven rebounds and two steals. Riley Dykstra led the Vikings (2-1) with 18 points while Avery Dykstra added 11 points.
Avery Dykstra was a force to begin the game as she knocked down a midrange jumper before working her way into the paint for a layup to give the Vikings an early 7-2 lead. Cedeno kept the Penguins close as she hit a 3-pointer before San Juan pulled up for two more to tie the game at 9-9. Cedeno then stole the ball and went the other way for a fastbreak layup to cap the 7-0 run and give Dominican the 11-9 lead at the halfway mark of the period.
Mollie Olson laid the ball in to give Western Washington a 3-point advantage, but Olga Faasolo laid it in and then added a short jumper in the span of 30 seconds to give the lead back to the Penguins at 15-14. After Avery Dykstra answered with a layup, her sister Riley Dykstra nailed a 3-pointer to send the Vikings into the second quarter with the 19-15 advantage.
Dominican's offensive cold spell stretched over the first four minutes of the second period and WWU capitalized as a Mason Oberg 3-pointer extended its lead to 32-15. Amelia Brady scored the first points of the quarter for the Penguins on a short jumper with six minutes to go until the half, but the Vikings continued its hot shooting from distance as Maddy Grandbois hit from beyond the arc to give them a large lead of 23 with 4:08 left on the clock. The teams traded buckets down the stretch and WWU took a 42-20 lead into the break.
The Dykstra sisters helped extend the lead in the third period as they each hit a short jumper to start an 6-0 run that pushed the lead to 50-22 at the halfway mark of the period. The Vikings continued to overpower the Penguins as their lead grew to a high of 46 by the fourth quarter on the way to a victory.
Dominican will return to action Saturday to face Saint Martins at 2 p.m. PST at Carver Gymnasium.
