LA MIRADA, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball rode a hot start to a 77-72 victory Thursday night over Biola at Chase Gymnasium.

Keyonee Neal finished with 14 points, six rebounds and two steals for the Penguins (19-6, 13-6 PacWest), while Alyssa Alvarado came off the bench to score a game-high 16 points and tie her single game career high. Hanne Nybo led the Eagles (12-12, 9-10 PacWest) with 14 points and eight rebounds, with Grace Moyers scoring 14 points on 50% shooting behind the arc. Dominican made a living off of points off turnovers in the game holding a 23-10 advantage over Biola. 

The first quarter could not have gone much better for the Penguins who, after trading baskets, reeled off a 15-0 run. Neal and Jamia Sawyer each had a steal and a fastbreak layup with Sawyer converting a 3-point play to jumpstart the run. Neal ended the run on a transition 3-pointer to take the 17-2 lead with 5:51 remaining. Mahliya Wilson collected a pass under the basket before it fell out of bounds and stepped back for a layup through contact to convert another 3-point play to give Dominican its largest lead of the game at 22-5 with four minutes left in the quarter. 

Dominican took a 15-point lead into the second quarter, but the Eagles began to chip away with the help of timely shooting from behind the arc. Grace Moyers was the first to strike from distance hitting a 3-pointer before stealing it on the other end and finding Laney Grider for another make behind the arc to make it 32-26 with 6:38 left in the half. The teams traded points for the next four minutes before Camden Miller hit a pullup and Hanne Nybo laid it in to trim the Biola deficit to four with two minutes to play. Moyers and Aliyah Bantolina each connected from behind the arc in the final minute to tighten the game further with Dominican clinging to a 42-40 lead at the break.

Moyers made it a 1-point game with a 3-pointer early in the third quarter, but Dominican found a bit of its first quarter magic and began to pull away. Neal stole the ball and threw it ahead to Wilson to extend the lead to five and then drove and kicked a ball out to Kaylyn Buchanon on the left wing for a 3-pointer. Alvarado drove the lane for a layup and then found Mahliya Wilson just inside the 3-point line for a long jumper that pushed the lead to 57-45 with 5:40 left to play in the quarter. The Penguins kept the double-digit lead until the final two minutes when Nybo laid it in and MiaGrace Delahoz hit a 3-pointer to pull the Eagles back to a 6-point deficit heading to the fourth. 

Neal scored the first four points in the fourth quarter and Alvarado ended an 8-3 run with a layup after a beautiful steal and long bounce pass from Buchanon to take a 69-58 lead heading to the final seven minutes. Moyers hit from distance to halt the run and Grider laid it in on the next possession to get back within two possessions, but it was as close as Biola would get as Dominican continued to answer to keep them at arm's length over the final five minutes. 

The Penguins conclude their road trip in Santa Barbara against Westmont on Saturday at Murchison Gymnasium with tipoff set for 1 p.m. PST.