SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball built a big lead in the first half and cruised to a 77-49 victory over San Francisco State on Saturday evening at the Conlan Recreation Center.
 
Kaylyn Buchanon-Lamb led four Penguins (3-4) in double figures with 12 points, six rebounds and three assists. Alyssa Alvarado added 12 points off the bench with Taylor Linzie and Abigail Cooper each chipping in 11 points. Alessandra Alvarado led the Gators (1-4) with 16 points and three rebounds. Dominican shot a blistering 46.9% from the field and 37.5% behind the arc, while holding San Francisco State to 24.6% and 18.2%, respectively.
 
After the teams opened in a tight contest Linzie sparked a run as she worked her way into the paint and finished through contact for an old fashioned 3-point play to make it 18-12 with 3:31 left in the period. The Penguins continued to push the pace and share the ball as Cooper laid it off the glass off a dish from Adia Walker before stealing the ball on the other end with Buchanon-Lamb finishing on the other end. Linzie capped off the 11-0 run with a short jumper off the dish from Andraya Perez to make it 26-12, an advantage they would hold into the second quarter.
 
Dominican built on its momentum as it opened the second as Buchanon-Lamb laid it in before Perez found Adia Walker for a 3-pointer pushing the lead to 19 in the first two minutes of the quarter. Buchanon-Lamb then found Alvarado under the hoop from her knees and Alvarado laid it off the glass before knocking down a transition jumper the next time down the court as a 6-point burst extended the lead to 40-17 with 5:50 remaining in the half. The teams traded buckets over the final five minutes as Nyana Asiasi knocked down a 3-pointer for the Gators to close the half with the Penguins leading 49-28.
 
After San Francisco State cut the lead under 20, Alaiyah San Juan knocked down a 3-pointer off an assist from Linzie and then grabbed a defensive rebound off a block from Julianne Cotterill before pulling up for two more in transition. San Juan then found Mikayla Amoroso under the hoop to end the 7-0 swing to make it 56-30 with 5:54 left in the third. Both teams struggled shooting over the final six minutes of the quarter as the Penguins led 60-35 heading into the fourth.
 
With the big lead, Dominican gave its reserves some quality minutes in the fourth as they held the 20-point advantage throughout the period.
 
The Penguins will head to Southern California for a two-game swing beginning with Cal State Dominguez Hills on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.  PDT at the Torodome in Carson.