San Rafael, Calif. — Dominican University of California women's basketball earned an impressive 68-47 victory over conference foe Hawaii Pacific University on Wednesday, extending their win streak to five.

"Back-to-back's are tough, so it was good to be back at home in front of a home crowd," head coach Tim Lakose said. "Yesterday's game we started really well, and today's game we finished really well. I'm really pleased to see that."

Avery Cargill notched the first basket of the game when she laid the ball in after a Dominican miss on the opposing side of the court, followed by the game's first 3-pointer courtesy of freshman Alaiyah San Juan a trio of possessions later. Graduate student Friauf matched a Sharks' basket on the Penguins' next ensuing trip down the floor to keep Dominican ahead by a single point, a lead that was tripled moments later when San Juan's footwork created enough space for her to lay the ball in.

Dominican forced a pair of HPU turnovers on consecutive possessions though the Penguins were unable to turn them into baskets, but graduate student Riley Friauf continued her sharp shooting from the foul line when she converted on a pair of shots after the Sharks hit a 3-pointer. Junior Brittney Cedeno then swiftly hit a long ball after quick passing created enough space for her to get a shot off, putting the Penguins up by six points before a Sharks 3-pointer cut the lead in half with just shy of five minutes remaining in the opening frame.

Cedeno faked a handoff before driving the baseline and laying the ball in following the game's first media timeout, followed by a Friauf block under the rim on HPU's next possession. Figueroa drew an offensive foul to send Dominican back down the floor, then putting her defender in a spin cycle before floating the ball in to finish the play she created. San Juan then followed suit with a floater of her own just moments later, forcing a Sharks' timeout as the score read 18-11. The Sharks were able to lessen the lead before the end of the half with a quick 5-0 run that was capped off with a Julia Razo 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded.

Avery Cargill increased the run with a 3-pointer to start the second quarter, with Haley Masaki adding two more points on the next Sharks possession. Figueroa tallied Dominican's first bucket of the quarter after spinning through the lane to find space, halting the Sharks 12-0 run that dated back to the previous quarter.

Jordyn Jensen put HPU ahead 25-20 with a layup coming out of a media timeout, a basket that was soon answered by a Cedeno jumper. Freshman Alex Salise found the stat sheet with a 3-pointer to bring Dominican within a pair, then helping force a turnover before dishing the ball to graduate student Abreanna Lake who tied the game with a long jumper. The Sharks pulled ahead with a quick basket on the next possession, but Salise played late-half hero when she juked to open the lane before sinking the half's final basket to tie the game at 29-29 with the teams headed to their respective locker rooms.

Friauf notched the first basket of the third quarter to put Dominican up two but HPU answered with consecutive points to edge the Penguins by one. Cedeno then dished the ball to Friauf in the lane, a play that ended with another Friauf bucket, with Friauf then forcing a turnover on her defensive side of the court that eventually resulted in a pair of foul shots.

Cedeno continued to leave her mark on the score sheet when she drilled the first 3-pointer of the final half, then stealing the ball on the ensuing possession before Friauf added two more Penguin points from the foul stripe. A left handed crosscourt heave from under the rim by Cedeno found the hands of a wide open Salise a pair of possessions later, with Salise wasting no time as she drained a yawning 3-pointer to put Dominican up nine at the first media timeout of the half.

Masaki hit a long jumper coming out of the timeout, but San Juan provided an immediate answer with a jumper of her own. HPU tallied the next four points to bring it within five, but Friauf received a pass from Salise before earning an easy bucket to extend the Penguin lead to seven following an HPU timeout, a lead that carried into the final frame as Dominican led 45-38.

Graduate student Jordan Charlton answered an early Sharks basket with back-to-back corner 3s from identical locations of the court to put Dominican up 11 before 90 seconds had come off the clock. Friauf later wrestled the ball out of her defender's hand following a Penguin miss, corralling the ball in emphatic fashion before dishing it to her right where Salise paid gratitude to the strong play with an open jumper to put Dominican up 53-40. Salise then climbed to the top rung of the ladder to garner an offensive rebound on the next Penguin possession, eventually helping send Friauf to the line to extend the Dominican advantage.

"When Jordan (Charlton) started hitting those 3s, our energy started picking up," Salise said. "We felt more momentum and energy while we were playing, and I just felt like everyone was getting hyped up. I found a boost of energy after I got that rebound, and it helped get us a 3-pointer."

A Friauf block on the Sharks' next trip down the floor eventually set up a bucket of her own after San Juan looked off every player on the floor, sending a behind-the-back no-look pass directly into Friauf's wheelhouse before she notched the basket. Friauf connected on another basket on Dominican's next trip down the floor before Charlton hit her third long-ball of the quarter to give Dominican an 18 point advantage before the final media timeout.

"I trust Riley to make those baskets, and I just saw her open for a split second and I know I have to make those passes to her to get us an easy bucket, I practice those," San Juan said.

The rain kept pouring as Cedeno swung another cross-court, one-handed pass into the hands of San Juan who drained another Dominican 3-pointer, preceding a Dominican steal via 10-second violation that eventually set up the Penguins for a pair of Friauf free throws. San Juan added one final basket for the Penguins as Dominican waltzed off the court with a decisive 68-47 victory at home.  

Cedeno finished just two assists shy of a triple double and she tallied 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists while Friauf collected another double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. San Juan collected an impressive 14 points with Salise rounding out the double-digit scorers as she etched 10 points, four rebounds and three assists — with two of the assists coming on the offensive side of the floor.