AZUSA, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball made program history as it took down No. 3 Azusa Pacific 81-77 Friday night at the Felix Event Center.

Brittney Cedeno finished with a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds to go with four steals and three assists for the Penguins (14-9, 11-5 PacWest). Camryn Figueroa made her third consecutive start and poured in 20 points of her own to go with six rebounds and three blocks. Riley Friauf continued to do her part finishing with 18 points, six rebounds and three assists. Paige Uyehara led the Cougars (18-2, 14-1 PacWest) with 20 points, while Molly Whitmore finished with 17 points and seven rebounds.

Dominican outrebounded APU 41-38 and forced 19 turnovers resulting in 23 points. It was the Penguins' first-ever victory over the Cougars in their NCAA Division II eras and the first-ever victory over a team ranked nationally in the top 5 by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association.

"Our team is playing with a lot of faith in themselves and each other right now," head coach Tim LaKose said. "Tonight's win was extra special because APU is such a good team."

Dominican trailed by 12 late in the third quarter as it began to attack the rim furiously resulting in three trips to the charity stripe to cut the lead in half with 1:27 left in the period. Cedeno then kept the momentum rolling as she knocked down a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left in the period and Friauf rejected Uyehara's layup on the other end to cut the Penguin deficit to 56-53 heading into the fourth quarter. Cedeno wasted no time in tying the game as Friauf kicked the ball out to her behind the arc for a 3-pointer 13 seconds into the fourth.

Figueroa drove the lane and then hit a short jumper to power a 6-0 run that gave Dominican its first lead since the second quarter at 62-58 with 8:20 left in the game. Errayanna Hatfield finished through contact and knocked down a free throw for the 3-point play to spark a 9-point run capped when Friauf gathered an offensive rebound on a fastbreak and laid it in to push the Penguin lead to 11 at the midway point of the quarter. The Cougars would not go down easily as they began to chip away at the lead as Uyehara converted a 3-point play and added two more free throws on the next possession to make it 76-70 with 2:49 left on the clock. 

Kayla Shaw and Amayah Kirkman each knocked down a 3-pointer to tie the game, but Alaiyah San Juan pulled up and knocked down one of her own to put Dominican back in front as the game entered the final minute. The Penguins' defense did not allow another made field goal as they shut the Cougars down and made the free throws needed to ice the game.

The teams traded points for most of the first quarter with neither being able to build a lead over four points in the period. Uyehara highlighted a 7-0 run for APU in the second period with a 3-point play that ended the seesaw battle to take the 24-20 lead. The Cougars continued to build on its lead as Uyehara drove the lane for two more to cap a 5-point swing which made it 36-26 with 3:02 remaining in the half. Hatfield converted back-to-back layups to get the game back within six just one minute later and the teams traded buckets down the stretch with APU leading 40-34 at the break.

Dominican will return home Tuesday as it takes on Hawaii Pacific at 5:30 p.m. PST at the Conlan Center.