No. 2 seeded Dominican women's basketball is set to take on No. 7 seeded Point Loma University in the first round of the Pacific West Conference Tournament on Thursday, March 3, at 2:45 p.m. PST.
"We know that Point Loma is a well coached team," redshirt junior Brittney Cedeno said. "We need to stick to what we know about them, we can really use that to our advantage. At the end of the day, it comes down to who wants it more, all the games will be like that. I know it's us. March is different, it's for everyone, people don't get that."
After receiving a projected eighth-place finish with no all-conference players in the PacWest Preseason Poll, Dominican women's basketball decided to write its own script rather than descend into the depths of poor expectations of those not-so-close to them. With the arrival of standout freshman Alaiyah San Juan and defensive specialist Abreanna Lake, Dominican finished the season with a bar set higher than the 10-foot rim of the basketball hoop. Freshman Alex Salise and Jazmine Barnes brought a dog-like mentality to the group as the two underclassman both had key contributions in wins that may not have happened without them, while the leadership core of seniors Camryn Figueroa, Errayanna Hatfield, Ashley Massell and Jordan Charlton constantly helped steady the ship.
The addition of junior Maiya Flores has meant that Dominican has consistent depth shooting from the bench, with Flores earning a career-high 30 points against Holy Names earlier this season before delivering her famous, "tonight I got my confidence back," quote. Sophomore Rylee Sarasua and Ysobelle Eustaquio also bring countless intangibles to the court, often playing meaningful minutes while contributing key stats to the team in moments of need.
"Going into the season we felt good about the returners," head coach Tim Lakose said. "Last year was difficult and not a real indicator about the team we had. Everyone is healthy and we have an incredible group of newcomers. The potential was there and we've peaked at the right time."
Dominican rolls into the tournament with the momentum of a seven game win streak, with four of those wins coming against teams that once were, or currently are, listed in the top-10 regional rankings, including a nine-point win over first round foe Point Loma. The Penguins currently sit No. 9 in the regional rankings with an 18-9 overall record while boasting a 15-5 conference record.
"Knowing that this is it, especially for me since I am done after this, is what's motivating me," graduate student Riley Friauf said. If we put everything on the line, and give everything we have, we're going to have success. We're peaking at the right time, and we know that we are fully capable of winning at all."
The Penguins have reached five of the last seven PacWest Championship tournaments after only reaching two conference tournaments from 2009-2015 after becoming an NCAA Division II affiliated institution in its inaugural 2008-09 season. This is the second time in three seasons that Dominican has earned the No. 2 seed, with the first No. 2 seed coming in 2019 when the team reached the semifinals of the tournament.
"The team knows the road map and the keys to success," head coach Tim Lakose said. "The plan is working, so we are going to stick to the plan. It's contagious, success breeds success."
Graduate student Riley Friauf was named to the All-PacWest Conference First Team as she led the PacWest Conference in points, averaging almost two entire points more than the second place finisher as she tallied 20.7 points per game — an average that was 21.5 before her unreturned departure from the final game of the season — while also snagging 9.7 rebounds per game, good enough for third in the conference while only trailing the second place finisher — and PacWest Player of the Year — by less than one rebound. Friauf finished 12th in the conference with 0.7 blocks per game, with the Player of the Year falling six spots behind in spot 18. Friauf also averaged the most minutes per game and the most made free throws converting in the conference this season, with her free throw statistic also leading the nation. Friauf finished the season as a four-time PacWest Player of the Week, also adding 11 double-doubles while reaching double-digit scoring figures in every game she finished this season.
Redshirt junior Brittney Cedeno was Dominican's other player that garnered conference honors as she was named to the All-PacWest Second Team. The Court Marshal finished seventh in the PacWest with 8.0 rebounds per game — 1.4 more boards than the PacWest Defender of the Year who finished No. 14 — while leading the entire conference with 3.4 steals per game — more than 26% more steals per game than the second place finisher who had 2.5. The 0.9 steal per game difference is the second highest steal differential between first and second place finishers in the last eight seasons while also marking the second highest steals per game average over the last eight championship campaigns. Once Cedeno hits the court on Thursday, she will be ranked No. 2 in the nation in steals per game.
Charlton adds an always important 3-point threat to the team, also proving that she can steal the momentum at any given moment to give her team a competitive advantage. This was most recently seen in Dominican's season finale when she stole the ball on an inbound pass after a San Juan 3-pointer, then laying the ball in to give Dominican five points in a three second span.
Figueroa has averaged 12.2 points per game over the last 11 games that she has played meaningful time in, a clear root of the success that Dominican has enjoyed in the later half of the season. Hatfield brings much-needed size to the floor as she's notched five double-digit games this season while finishing fourth in team scoring.
San Juan has been one of the most clutch performers in Dominican history, tallying three game winning baskets in the final 10 seconds of games this season, with two of them coming as buzzer beaters to grasp victory for the Penguins. The freshman brings young leadership to the floor, while her underclassman counterpart, Salise, often does the same with her unique ability to generate momentum plays out of seemingly nothing, often on the offensive side of the floor. Salise, a number of times, has snagged offensive rebounds in the waning moments of the game, plays that helped lead her team to victory.
Dominican has solidified itself as the university where scorers come to play as this year marks the sixth straight season that a Dominican women's basketball player has led the conference in scoring, with both Friauf and former Penguins' star Natalie Diaz earning back-to-back scoring titles. The program continues to solidify itself as a conference powerhouse as years pass, with each year bringing the team closer to its first conference championship. Head coach Tim Lakose has brought five of his last seven Dominican teams to the conference tournament, a stark contrast to the two tournament teams that Dominican built prior to his arrival.
Tickets for the PacWest tournament can be bought here, while the conference has also issued the following statement regarding mask requirements for those in attendance:
Masking remains one of the most effective strategies for preventing COVID-19 spread at the community level. Follow and stay current with NCAA Resocialization of Collegiate Sport guidance and CDC guidance in conjunction with local and state public health guidance. Masking is required inside the Special Events Center for ALL guests while indoors except for those student-athletes that are competing.
