San Rafael, CALIF. -- Dominican University of California (17-10, 14-5) earned a late non-conference victory over UC Santa Cruz (17-6) in the Conlan Center on Sunday. 

Freshman Keyonee Neal led the way in the scorers column, tallying 20 points while adding five rebounds, three assists and four steals. Junior Jenna Duley ended the game with 13 points in addition to four assists while junior Olga Faasolo earned 12 points and six rebounds in just 16 minutes of work. 

Dominican fell victim to Santa Cruz sharpshooting in the opening phases of the matchup as back-to-back 3s preceded another long ball minutes later as the Banana Slugs held a 15-4 lead after just five minutes of play. Faasolo's first basket of the afternoon stopped the streak before Dominican drilled it's first shot from deep courtesy of Duley. The ensuing three minutes saw no baskets from either side as both squads settled in defensively before back-to-back Santa Cruz buckets matched by a 7-0 Dominican run that ended the opening frame with the score reading 19-16. 

Three baskets from the two foes within a 30 second span brought the game back within a single point as another Duley deep ball kept Dominican at pace with the visitors before sophomore Alex Salise netted her first basket of the game. Graduate student Abreanna Lake checked into the game before hitting her first shot of the matchup follow a Neal bucket that gave Dominican its first lead of the afternoon. Moments after Neal took the lead for Dominican she tallied a steal at half court as she and a Banana Slug both got equal parts on a ball that was passed to the center logo before Neal out muscled the opposition and assisted on Lake's second basket of the game. Lake continued to make the most out of her minutes as she hit a midrange jumper from near the base line on the next possession before a turnaround jumper from Faasolo gave Dominican it's largest lead of the half, a lead that the Penguins took into the locker room minutes later as the score board read 41-36 for the home team. 

A 7-0 streak to start the half was capped off by a Neal 3-pointer that gave Dominican a 12-point lead. Santa Cruz was able to cut into the lead throughout the course of the third quarter, eventually trailing by just four before a final Neal basket set the score to 58-52 with the sides headed into the final frame. San Juan earned her fifth assist of the contest after she dished the ball to a driving Cedeno who converted on the ensuing lay-in, a play that was mirrored moments later with this drive ending on a midrange jumper that was also made by Cedeno and assisted by San Juan. The waning moment of the game didn't go without drama as the Banana Slugs placed themselves back within a respectable distance before an off-balance 3-pointer was drained by Santa Cruz's Ashley Kowack that brought her team back within three. A foul on the inbound led to a successful foul shot by San Juan that acted as the final haymaker in the slugfest as Dominican left the court with the 74-69 victory over the Banana Slugs soon after. 

The Penguins now look ahead to senior night on Saturday, Feb. 25 as the Urban Knights of the Academy of Art pay visit to Dominican on what will also be Willie Long Night as Dominican gives it's thanks to longtime employee William H. Long for 50 years of service.