SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball got ahead early and never looked back, defeating Stanislaus State 72-58 Monday to open its season.
Jamia Sawyer led all scorers with 15 points to go with eight rebounds and four assists.
Janiya Sawyer added 14 points, while
Ryan Nair finishing with 13 points and three steals for the Penguins (1-0). Kalyn Harris led the Warriors (0-1) with 12 points and four rebounds.
It took a few minutes for either team to find the bottom of the net with
Jamia Sawyer breaking the seal on the basket with a short jumper with 7:38 left in the first quarter.
Ryan Nair quickly added a 3-pointer as Dominican began to pull away, with Sofia Addiego capping a 12-2 run with a 3-pointer from the left corner to take the double-digit lead with 2:34 left in the period. The Warriors scored the next five points with Amya Vangkham-Griffin knocking down a 3-pointer to close to 12-7, but
Aniyah Versosa answered on the other end to send the Penguins into the second leading by eight.
Nair finished through contact to spark the Penguins early in the second quarter, converting the 3-point play, before
Jamia Sawyer laid the ball in on a beautiful assist under the hoop by Versosa.
Aryn Bright extended the lead to 27-13 on a layup with six minutes left in the half, but Stanislaus State began to chip away. Kaylyn Harris capped the 9-1 Warriors run with back-to-back layups to bring her team back within six heading into the final two minutes of the second quarter. The Sawyer twins connected on back-to-back baskets, with Janiya making a short jumper off an assist from Jamia before Jamia drove for two more after a turnover to retake the double-digit lead. Addiego hit another 3-pointer before
Jamia Sawyer sank a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 12. The teams traded buckets in the final minute with Dominican taking a 39-27 lead into the locker room.
The Warriors closed within single digits again early in the second half after Harris laid it in on back-to-back possessions, but Nair answered on the other end, retaking the 43-33 lead with 6:46 left in the quarter.
Sydnee Norwood scored four quick point for the Penguins to push the lead back to 14 with under five minutes in the third with Moriah Mosley hitting a 3-pointer on the other end for Stanislaus State to halt the momentum. The teams largely traded baskets for the rest of the quarter with Dominican holding a 53-43 advantage heading to the final period.
The fourth quarter continued the pattern of the previous two with the Warriors mounting a run to close within single digits before Dominican pulled ahead by double digits. The game was never in doubt as Versosa threaded a needle to Norwood late before hitting a pull-up jumper to push the Penguins game-high lead to 17 with less than a minute to play.
Dominican will stay home Friday to host Menlo at the Conlan Center in the opening game of the PacWest/CCAA Challenge at 5 p.m.
