COSTA MESA, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball fell 56-55 in a heartbreaker Thursday evening against Vanguard at the Freed Center for Leadership and Service.

Abby Cooper led the Penguins (19-11, 13-6 PacWest) with 13 points, while Alaiyah San Juan chipped in 11 points, two blocks and six rebounds. Taylor Linzie rounded out the Dominican big three recording a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds despite battling foul trouble all night. Emma Schaaf led the Lions (17-8, 15-4 PacWest) with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

The Penguins attacked the paint early as Cooper and Linzie combined to score the first eight points to propel them to an 8-3 lead. Schaaf was able to pull the Lions even on a 3-pointer before knocking down a pair of free-throws to cap a 7-point swing to give them the two-point lead with 2:27 left in the first. Dominican kept the game close and reeled off a 5-0 run capped when Kaylyn Buchanon-Lamb threaded the needle to Mikayla Amoroso in the paint to take a 15-13 lead with 44 seconds remaining in the quarter.

Vanguard scored the next five points to retake the lead as Jaryn Madsen hit a 3-pointer, but San Juan answered with a 3-pointer from the right corner to answer and tie the game at 18-18 one minute into the new period. After trading buckets, some fancy passing by the Penguins found Alyssa Alvarado and Buchanon-Lamb open behind the arc for a pair of makes to spark a run. Cooper finished through contact and converted from the charity strip to cap the 11-0 run to take the 29-20 lead with 5:53 left in the half. The Lions shaved a few points off their deficit, but Dominican entered the half leading 33-27.

Dominican continued to move the ball well early in the second half as San Juan found Amoroso for a layup to take a 39-30 lead, but the shooting went cold. Vanguard took advantage going on a 13-2 run as Ashlin Crabtree hit a 3-pointer to take the 43-41 lead with two minutes left in the third. San Juan drove inside for a layup to tie the game heading to the fourth and give Dominican back some momentum.

Dominican started strong in the fourth quarter as San Juan sparked a 9-2 run with a pair of nifty drives and a Linzie layup made it 52-45 with 5:29 remaining in the game. Once again Dominican went cold and the Lions fought back to tie the game at 53-53 on a pair of free throws. San Juan finally broke the scoreless drought as she dished the ball to a wide open Cooper for a layup to take the lead with one minute left, but a pair of misses at the free throw line to ice the game gave the ball back to Vanguard with a chance to tie or take the lead with 22 seconds. Madsen cashed in the opportunitiy as her 3-pointer hit the front of the rim and rolled back and in off the bounce to take the lead. Dominican ran down the court looking to retake the lead but San Juan's layup was off target and Vanguard held on for the victory.

The Penguins will conclude the regular season Saturday as the face Concordia University Irvine at 1 p.m. PST.