SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball fell 72-61 Thursday night to Westmont to open its first Southern California road trip at Murchison Gymnasium
 
Alaiyah San Juan led the Penguins (11-9, 5-4 PacWest) with 17 points and seven rebounds. Mikayla Amoroso added 13 points on 3-for-5 shooting from behind the arc, while Taylor Linzie fell just short of her third consecutive double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds. Jazmyn Shipp led the Warriors (9-7, 5-3 PacWest) with 16 points and five rebounds with Bailey Fong finishing with a game-high 18 points.
 
Both teams enjoyed early runs  as Sage Kramer knocked down a 3-pointer to give Westmont the 8-3 lead with 7:32 left in the first. San Juan answered on the other end with a 3-pointer from the left elbow to spark a 7-0 run that gave the Penguins the 10-8 lead two minutes later.  Things swung back to the Warriors as Mariah Brown knocked down a 3-pointer to cap an 11-0 run that spanned the final five minutes of the quarter.
 
Bailey Fong gave Westmont a large lead of 13 with a make behind the arc with 4:45 remaining to make it 32-19, but the Penguins began their march back into the game from there. Adia Walker scored the final six points of the half for Dominican with a 3-pointer from the corner closing the gap to 36-30, but Jazmyn Shipp laid it in before the final buzzer to make it an 8-point game at the half.
 
Mikayla Amoroso continued the Penguins momentum in the second half as she connected on a 3-pointer to open the scoring. After trading the next few baskets, San Juan nailed a 3-pointer from top of arc followed and then threw the ball ahead to Abigail Cooper in transition for a fastbreak layup to cut the Dominican deficit to 43-40 with 3:08 remaining in the third. The shooting went cold and Westmont took advantage as Bailey Fong stole the ball and laid it in to cap a 6-point run that pushed the advantage back to nine.
 
San Juan helped the Penguins close back within three once again as she connected on a pair of layups to open the fourth quarter, but Shipp guided a 12-1 run with seven points to push the lead to a game-high 14 at 63-49 with 4:34 remaining. Although the Penguins continued to take points off the lead down the stretch they ran out of time to overcome the lead.
 
Dominican will turn its attention to Biola for a matchup Saturday at 1 p.m. PST at Chase Gymnasium in La Mirada.