SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball avenged its first loss of the conference season holding on for an 80-74 victory Thursday over Point Loma Nazarene University at the Conlan Recreation Center. 

Mahliya Wilson led the way with 21 points, seven steals and five rebounds for the Penguins (9-2, 3-2 PacWest). Kaylyn Buchanon added 14 points and six assists while Keyonee Neal finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Hannah Golan led the Sea Lions (8-4, 4-2 PacWest) with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds with Ruby Vlahov joining her in double figures with 16 points and seven boards. The difference came in the paint where Dominican held a 42-34 advantage while also drawing several fouls on their drives and hitting 80% from the charity stripe.

The game went back-and-forth in the early going as Golan and Vlahov each hit their first shots to give PLNU the slight advantage. After Izzy Navarro converted a fastbreak layup to take a 13-10 lead, Dominican stepped up the defense with sparks off the bench first as Isobel Crosswhite stole an inbound pass and laid it off the glass to take the lead and then as Adia Walker stole the ball on the next possession before the ball moved around to Alyssa Alvarado in the corner for a 3-pointer to keep the momentum going. Janiya Sawyer made a pull up jumper in the lane to cap the 11-point run to give the Penguins the 21-13 lead with 1:36 remaining. Golan and Vlahov ended the quarter with four straight for the Sea Lions to cut the deficit to five. 

PLNU continued their run to begin as Maddie Morrow tied the game 23-23 with a 3-pointer two minutes into the new period. Emma Sales connected from behind the arc two minutes later to give PLNU back the lead at 28-26, but it was short lived as Neal found Crosswhite under the hoop for two to tie the game once more. Sawyer scored four straight to spark another run as she got into the paint on back-to-back possessions. Alvarado ended the 14-2 run with a jumper at the buzzer off a quick pass from Buchanon as the Penguins took the momentum into the locker room.

Buchanon opened the second half with a steal and a layup to push the lead to a game-high 14 and Dominican held that advantage for much of the third quarter. Another 3-pointer from Morrow sparked a 7-0 run to help PLNU cut back to withing seven with 1:30 left in the quarter, but Buchanon and Neal scored the next four points for the Penguins to push the lead back to double-digits. Both offenses struggled in the final quarter but it was the Sea Lions that slowly chipped away at the lead with five points from the free-throw line to cut the deficit to 67-62 with 4:32 remaining. Morrow's third 3-pointer of the game pushed PLNU within two, but Neal answered on the other end to take the 73-68 lead. PLNU continued to keep things close as Golan knocked down a pair of free-throws to cut the lead to 73-72 with 25 seconds remaining. Buchanon went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe moments later but redeemed her miss by stealing the ensuing inbounds and kicking the ball back Wilson who sealed the victory from the free throw line.

Dominican will host Concordia University Irvine as it looks to avenge its only other loss of the year Saturday at 1 p.m. PST at the Conlan Recreation Center.