Honolulu, Hawaii -- Dominican University of California (11-7, 9-2) earned a Hawaiian Island sweep after beating Chaminade University (1-15, 1-9) in Honolulu behind reshirt senior
Brittney Cedeno's first career triple-double.
Dominican forced a gargantuan 20 turnovers in the first half alone before finishing with 35. Cedeno, in a fashion that is becoming exceedingly familiar, finished with her name pasted all over the stat sheet as she earned her first career triple-double, tallying 14 points, 12 rebounds and 12 steals while also adding four assists. Sophomore
Alaiyah San Juan led all Dominican scorers with 15 points adding four steals, two assists and two rebounds. Juniors
Jenna Duley and
Olga Faasolo also finished with double-digit scoring numbers etching 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Dominican's first forced turnover came off a Cedeno steal in her own backcourt just 65 seconds into the contest, a snatch that soon turned into a
Keyonee Neal layup on the other end after Chaminade earned the game's first basket. The Silverswords spent the rest of the opening frame searching high and low for answers while sitting front row for a 21-0 Penguin scoring onslaught that set the tone for the rest of the contest. Chaminade finally added another bucket nearly seven minutes after its first, a celebration that was soon forgotten as Faasolo and freshman
Amelia Brady combined four the quarter's final two baskets with Dominican leading 25-4. Brady showed her strength in the first 10 minutes of the game, often connecting on contested buckets with contact also sending her to the foul line. Brady's efforts would be good enough for six first quarter points in addition to a pair of rebounds, an assist and a block.
The second quarter started similarly to the first but Chaminade turned the tide in the form of a 12-0 run midway that lasted nearly four minutes while Dominican looked to regroup near the end of the stanza. Cedeno snapped the streak with a reverse lay-in but a pair of late Chaminade buckets meant a depleted Penguin lead as Dominican entered the locker rooms with a 35-24 lead.
The Penguins welcomed themselves back to the scorers column with a 9-0 run courtesy of a few free throws, a Duley double and a pair of driving layups from Cedeno and Neal. San Juan forced her way into the mix near the end of the third frame with four consecutive successful free throws as Chaminade foul trouble meant Dominican visited its timeshare on the charity stripe in the waning minutes of the quarter, seeing the open real estate 16 times in a the span of the final five minutes before taking a 56-37 lead into the remaining 10 minutes.
A San Juan 3-pointer welcomed the foes to the floor for the final frame before Duley added a layup to extend the Penguins' lead to 24. Chaminade did come closer throughout the fourth quarter but eventually fell 72-53 to Dominican as the Penguins walked off the court with the enjoyment of a Hawaiian Island sweep earning three victories in five nights.