Irvine, CALIF. -- Dominican University of California (2-5, 0-1) dropped its first game of the contest season as Concordia University of Irvine (4-3, 1-0) walked off the court with a 71-67 victory. 

Redshirt senior Brittney Cedeno continued to lead her squad, this time earning 25 points while adding four rebounds and a trio of assists. Cedeno shot an impressive 60% from the field against the Golden Eagles, tallying two of Domican's three 3-pointers on the evening while leading all players in scoring. 

Concordia found itself up by as many as nine in the first frame before a Cedeno earned six consecutive Dominican points to bring her squad within three. Junior Jenna Duley etched her name in the scorers column after tallying a layup with just under three minutes remaining to keep it a one possession game, preceding a successful Cedeno and-1 that tied the game. Dominican found itself down by three as the buzzer sounded to end the first frame with the score reading 22-19. 

The back and forth action continued in the second frame as both teams held leads but none greater than Concordia's five-point lead midway through the stanza. Sophomores Mikayla Amoroso and Alex Salise traded layups to bring Dominican back within a point before a Cedeno short range jumper gave the Penguins the lead, but the Golden Eagles retook the lead with less than a minute remaining as they went into the locker rooms with a 44-40 lead. 

Concordia buried back-to-back buckets to start the second half before graduate student Jordan Charlton and sophomore Alaiyah San Juan earned both buckets back just 14 seconds apart after San Juan earned a turnover at half court. Dominican regained the lead with just over three minutes to go courtesy of a Salise layup, eventually ending the quarter up by a single bucket as Cedeno hit a late jumper to give the Penguins a 58-56 advantage. 

A 7-0 Golden Eagles run set the tone for the final frame as Dominican was never able to regain the lead, netting just eight points in the final 10 minutes. Duley brought Dominican within one with a successful layup with 67 seconds remaining, but a plethora of Concordia free throws sealed the deal as the Golden Eagles exited the gym with a 71-66 victory.