SAN FRANCISCO – Dominican women's basketball held on for yet another victory as it defeated Cal State San Bernardino 66-53 Saturday evening at The Swamp to finish undefeated at teh SF State Gator Invitational.
The Penguins (4-0) remained undefeated on the year behind strong play from its guards as
Mahliya Wilson scored a game-high 21 points to go with four steals and four rebounds.
Keyonee Neal added 14 points, while
Kaylyn Buchanon finished with 12 points six rebounds and four steals. Sincere Hardwick led the Coyotes (2-2) with nine points and six rebounds while Arianna Harber finished with seven points and seven boards. Dominican once again used ball control for the second straight night to earn the victory forcing 30 CSUSB turnovers while only committing 13 of their own leading to a 26-5 advantage in points off turnovers.
After falling behind after the first four points, the Penguins got things rolling on offense as Wilson connected on a short jumper and
Julianne Cotterill stole the ball and threw it ahead to
Alyssa Alvarado for a layup to quickly tie the game. After another Dominican steal, Neal connected on a 3-pointer to take the lead and a pair of free throws moments later pushed the lead to 9-4 lead with 6:15 left in the quarter. Paisley Specht single-handedly brought CSUSB back to a tie with five consecutive points over the next minute. Arianna Harper knocked down a 3-pointer for the Coyotes and Hardwick converted on a layup to take a 16-11 lead with 3:42 left in the first. Wilson knocked down a pair of layups to cut the Penguins deficit to one and a pair of free throws just before the buzzer sent Dominican into the second leading 19-18.
Wilson scored eight points in an 12-1 run to push the Penguins lead to 31-19 over the first six minutes of the second quarter with the defense shutting down CSUSB on the other end. Ray Smith sparked the Yotes out of their offensive slumber with four points in a 6-0 run that closed the deficit to four over the next two minutes and the teams traded points down the stretch with the Penguins leading 33-30 at the break.
Neal hit her second 3-pointer of the game to cap a 7-0 run and push the Penguins ahead 40-32 three minutes into the new half. CSUSB battled back within three, but
Janiya Sawyer converted an old-fashioned three point play and Neal added a hook shot to push the Dominican lead to 46-38 with 2:25 left in the third.
After the Yotes made yet another run to trim its deficit to four on a Hardwick jumper a minute into the fourth quarter, Alvarado hit a 3-pointer to give the Penguins back some of the momentum. The teams continued to trade buckets until Neal hit a short jumper and Cotterill laid it in off a dime from Wilson for the first consecutive points in the quarter. Buchanon drove the lane for a layup to keep the run going and Wilson drove for one of her own to make it an 8-0 run and extend the lead to 63-51 with 1:30 remaining and there was no comeback left in the Yotes.
Dominican will return home for the first time this season Tuesday as it hosts Cal State Monterey Bay at 5:30 p.m. PST at the Conlan Center.
