Azusa, CALIF. – Dominican University of California (14-10, 12-5) fell to No. 18 Azusa Pacific (20-3, 15-1) at the Felix Event Center on Saturday.
 
Redshirt senior Brittney Cedeno led the way with 20 points, three rebounds, three assists and four steals as she now leads the nation by at least 29 steals. Juniors Jenna Duley and Olga Faasolo both added 12 points to the Dominican point total with freshman Keyonee Neal rounding out the double-digit scoring with 11.
 
Dominican used a slew of opportunities in the first quarter to help propel itself in the early going, shooting 47% as a team from the field on 17 total shots. The two sides traded buckets for the entirety of the first quarter with neither team leading by more than three points. The Penguins played gritty basketball, often finding themselves at the free throw line after getting fouled in the paint with both Neal and Cedeno converting on successful and-1 plays. The Cougars game plan was much different as they were often seen parking themselves beyond the arc and burying shots from deep, proved true by their last four field goals of the quarter coming as 3-pointers before a pair of successful Abreanna Lake free throws gave Dominican a single-point lead after the opening 10 minutes.
 
A quick 9-0 run gave APU a 30-22 advantage before Faasolo broke the streak with a midrange jumper. Dominican couldn't fully find its bearing in the second quarter as the Cougars continued to pour it on, often finding themselves with a double-digit advantage over Dominican before taking a 46-36 lead into the locker rooms.
 
The Penguins earned their first four points of the third quarter from the foul line as the team would eventually see a 95% success rate from the charity stripe by game's end. Cedeno converted on a jumper after sophomore Alaiyah San Juan hit a 3-pointer, bringing Dominican back within six points of the Cougar lead. The Penguins continued to return the favors from deep with Duley hitting one last long ball of the quarter, a shot that brought her squad within five with the score set to 63-58 with 10 minutes left in the matchup.
 
Duley hit another three to put the Penguins on the board in the final frame, but an 11-3 run put APU up 15 with the Duley bucket marking the only field goal that Dominican collected over the first six minutes of the concluding quarter. Dominica was able to bring itself back with seven courtesy of another San Juan 3-pointer, but the late push was not enough as the home team eventually walked away with the 82-73 victory.