SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball rode its defense to victory as it opened the PacWest Basketball Championships with a 54-44 victory Thursday afternoon at Conlan Recreation Center.
 
Taylor Linzie led the Penguins (21-11, 14-6 PacWest) with another massive double-double of 15 points and 19 rebounds while adding four steals and a block. Alaiyah San Juan was held in check on the scoring side but did plenty to help Dominican as she collected five steals, three blocks and three assists. Sammie Henley led the Eagles (7-22, 7-13 PacWest) with 19 points and three steals.
 
After trading the first two baskets, Linzie hit a baseline jumper on offense and the Penguin defense locked down the Eagles as they scored eight unanswered to end the period. Alex Salise drove to the basket for a 13-4 lead to end the scoring in the first period and the run reached 13-0 after Alyssa Alvarado knocked down a 3-pointer from the left elbow to take the 18-4 lead with 7:26 left in the second.
 
Henley answered the Alvarado 3-pointer with one of her own on the other end and a 7-point Biola run cut its deficit to seven points with 5:43 remaining. Dominican began to play downhill as Abigail Cooper  made a floater and Kaylyn Buchanon-Lamb and Taylor Linzie drove for a pair of layups to take the 26-13 lead with 4:09 left in the half. The teams traded baskets to end the half and the Penguins took a 29-17 lead into the break.
 
Alyssa Kubo started the second half strong for the Eagles with a step-back jumper followed by a 3-pointer to help them close the gap to 29-24 within the first two minutes of the third. Andraya Perez knocked down a step-back 3-pointer for Dominican to push the lead back to double-digits briefly with Buchanon-Lamb knocking down another 3-pointer moments later to spark a large Penguin run.
 
The 10-0 run ended in the fourth quarter as Linzie stole the ball on one end and ran undetected down the right sideline where San Juan found her cutting to the basket to make it 49-31 with 9:31 remaining in the game. The Eagles scored the next seven points to close back within 11 heading into the final five minutes of the game. The lead was too much for Biola to overcome as Dominican had an answer for every bucket down the stretch.
 
Dominican will be back in action Friday as it takes on No. 2 Azusa Pacific in the semifinals at the Conlan Recreation Center.