SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball withstood several runs and pulled away late for an 88-63 victory over Cal State East Bay on Tuesday night at the Conlan Recreation Center.
Aryn Bright found an offensive groove in the final 10 minutes of the game leading all players with 18 points for the Penguins (6-0).
Keyonee Neal added 16 points, nine rebounds and six blocks while
Kaylyn Buchanon finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Hailey Estrada and Mia Vaasili led the Pioneers (1-5) with 10 points each as Estrada added nine rebounds and four assists. Dominican shot 41.8% from the field and 40% from behind the arc while holding East Bay to 32.9% and 27.3%, respectively.
After trading baskets in the early going, Dominican used its defense to power a 6-0 burst that pushed it ahead 15-10 with 3:54 remaining in the period. The Pioneers chipped away at the lead slowly and took a 19-18 lead on a nifty layup by Hailey Estrada with under a minute left in the opening quarter.
Mahliya Wilson wasted no time giving the Penguins back the lead with a fadeaway jumper to open the second quarter.
After trading shots behind the arc, Neal made a couple of buckets in the paint before
Alyssa Alvarado stole the ball and took it the other way for a layup to extend the lead to 31-24 with 4:28 left in the half and cap an 11-2 run. After CSUEB closed the gap to three, Alvarado swiped the ball and laid it off the glass again to halt the momentum. Buchanon hit a pair from the charity stripe before swiping the inbounds and finding
Aryn Bright for a layup before time expired to hand Dominican its first double digit lead at 38-28 heading to the locker room.
Alvarado kept the momentum going with a 3-pointer from the right corner to open the scoring in the third period and push the lead to 13 finishing the 10-point swing. The offense stagnated again for the Penguins and East Bay began to chip away as Lucca Lowenberg hit a corner three to spark a 7-0 run that trimmed the deficit to 52-49 with one minute left in the quarter.
Bright caught fire to open the final quarter hitting a pair of short jumpers before draining a shot behind the arc in the first two minutes to spark a 9-3 Dominican run to take a 63-52 lead. The offense continued to roll as Bright hit another corner 3-pointer to push the lead to 70-54 as the Penguins pulled away.
Dominican will have a long break before it takes the court again Saturday, December 13 at 2 p.m. PST against Point Loma in a rematch of last year's PacWest Championship game at Golden Gymnasium in San Diego.
