HILO, Hawaii- Dominican women's basketball kicked off their Hawaii road-trip Thursday night with a win against Hawaii Hilo 51 to 39. This victory pushes the Penguins to 12-3 overall and 5-2 in conference play.

The last couple of games, Dominican has started slowly but that wasn't the case Thursday night. The Penguins took a 13-9 lead after the first period led by their senior leaders Jenna Duley and Olga Faasolo. Faasolo checked into the game and instantly made an impact down low forcing the Vulcans defense to send her to the line multiple times. Duley orchestrated the offense and made some tough lay-ups early on. 

Defense travels and the Penguins were able to force the Vulcans into nine turnovers in the first half. The Vulcans ended the game with 18 turnovers. In the second period Dominican turned up the intensity on defense holding Hilo to 22% from the field.

The Penguins came out strong in the second half and nobody was bigger than sophomore Keyonee Neal. Neal dropped 15 points in the second half ending the night with 19 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The Rohnert Park native was a menace on both sides of the ball who also went 5 for 7 from the charity stripe. This marked Neal's second double-double of the season.

Fresh off her PacWest Defender of the Week honors, Alaiyah San Juan posted 10 points along with swiping two steals. In the fourth period when the Vulcans started to make a little run, the Penguins went back to what was working to close out the game, feeding Neal. 

Next up for Dominican on their Hawaii road-trip is a clash with HPU Saturday at 4:30 HST.