LANGLEY, B.C. – Dominican women's basketball made a furious fourth quarter comeback but ultimately fell 72-67 to Gannon in its season opener at the D2 CCA Canadian Tip-Off Classic on Friday afternoon at Langley Events Centre.
Alex Salise led all players with 15 points on 60% shooting for the Penguins (0-1).
Alaiyah San Juan had a solid line of 10 points and five rebounds, while
Alyssa Alvarado finished with 11 points. Maddy Wheatley led the Golden Knights (1-0) with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Kate Ratliff and Carissa Dunham each chipped in 13 points. The difference in the game was on the boards as Gannon finished with 42 rebounds and 17 second-chance points, while Dominican finished with 30 rebounds and nine second-chance points.
After the teams opened up by trading a pair of baskets,
Taylor Linzie got loose in the paint and her teammates found her for back-to-back buckets capping a 6-0 run that pushed Dominican ahead 10-6 halfway through the opening quarter.
Andraya Perez extended the Penguins' lead to five with the games first 3-pointer, but Maddy Wheatley answered on the other end for Gannon with under a minute remaining to close the defict to two heading to the second.
Dunham sparked the Golden Knights early in the second as she knocked down two 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions and a Bri Claxon fastbreak layup gave them the 20-15 lead. San Juan halted the run with a pull up jumper and then stole a ball on defense leading to a pair of free throws for Abigail Cooper to get Dominican back within one with 6:08 remaining in the half.
Kate Ratliff bookended a 6-point Golden Knight run with a pair of layups as they opened back up some breathing room at 31-23 and then followed up with a 3-pointer a few minutes later to extend the lead to 11 with under a minute left to play. Dominican grabbed back some momentum as San Juan knocked down a pair of free throws with six seconds remaining and
Jazmine Barnes followed with a steal and a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut its deficit to 36-30 heading to the locker room.
The start of the second half was not kind to the Penguins as the Golden Knights opened on a 22-3 run as they looked to run away with the game building a 25 point lead heading into the fourth. Dominican showed its grit in the fourth quarter as Salise and Alvarado began to catch fire each knocking down a shot from distance to start a 20-2 run. Alvarado excelled in the run going coast-to-coast after a rebound for a fastbreak layup to cut the Gannon lead to 10 before
Kaylyn Buchanon-Lamb had a steal and threw the ball over to Perez who found Alvarado streaking ahead of the pack for another fastbreak layup with 2:17 on the clock.
Another steal by Buchanon-Lamb followed by an Alvarado layup continued to chip away at the Golden Knight lead with under a minute remaining. Defensive pressure forced another turnover with Alvarado this time collecting the steal before Buchanon-Lamb found Salise for a short jumper to make it 69-67 with 36 seconds left on the clock. The Golden Knights were able to draw a foul on the next possession and sealed the game from the line.
Dominican will return to action Saturday as it takes on host Simon Fraser at 5:15 p.m. PDT at Langley Event Centre.
