MERCED, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball started strong to run away with an 84-63 victory Friday over Chico State in the opener of the PacWest/CCAA Tipoff Challenge at Greg and Cathie Hostetler Court.

Mahliya Wilson led five Penguins (1-0) in double figures with 16 points, while Keyonee Neal added a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds. Maddison Parry paced the Wildcats (0-1) with 14 points and eight rebounds, with Meadow Aragon chipping in a double-double of 11 points and 10 boards. Dominican shot 45.3% from the field and a scorching 43.5% from behind the arc, while holding Chico State to 34.4% shooting and 30.4% on 3-pointers.

The Penguins came running out of the gates behind the speed and game of Wilson as she sparked a huge run scoring 10 of Dominican's points in a 22-0 run while Alyssa Alvarado cashed in a pair of 3-pointers to score eight in the stretch as the team took a 25-6 lead. Alvarado gave the Penguins a 20-point lead with a layup with 27 seconds remaining in the quarter. A free throw allowed the Wildcats to get it under 20 in the final seconds of the quarter but Aryn Bright knocked down a 3-pointer seconds into the new period to push the lead to 34-12.

Bright knocked down her second 3-pointer of the period from the top of the key to push the lead to 23 with 6:11 left in the half. Chico State chipped away at the lead as Parry scored six unanswered to bring the gap to 44-25 with three minutes left in the half, but Keyonee Neal converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to push the lead back above 20 before knocking a shot down behind the arc as Dominican ended the half on an 11-8 run to take a 55-28 lead.

Wilson pushed the lead over 30 for the first time with a pair of free throws early in the third quarter, but the Wildcats began to chip away from there. Aragon started the9-2 run with a pair of baskets in the paint and Nseije Ortiz hit a 3-pointer to trim the lead to 65-41 with 4:30 left in the quarter. Bright connected on a 3-pointer to end the run briefly but Chico State continued to chip away with Parry knocking down a pair from the charity stripe to cut the deficit to 20.

Neal ended the third with a 3-pointer and Sofia Addiego opened the fourth with another from the right corner to push the lead to 74-48 heading into the final nine minutes of the game. The Penguins pushed the lead back to 28 before coasting the rest of the way to victory. 

Dominican will be back in action Saturday as it takes on the host, UC Merced, at 2:30 p.m. PST at Greg and Cathie Hostetler Court.