by LA MIRADA, Calif. – Dominican women’s basketball could not get shots to fall down the stretch falling 70-66 Monday night to Biola at Chase Gymnasium.
Adia Walker continued her efficient play finishing with 19 points to go with eight rebounds for the Penguins (9-3, 2-2 PacWest). Kaylen Kamelamela led the Eagles (7-5, 3-1 PacWest) with 19 points and six rebounds.
Dominican got off to a slow start as Kamelamela and Trasara Alexander hit a pair of 3-pointers to put Biola up 13-3 with under a minute in the first quarter but Olga Faasolo converted a 3-point play to end the period to close the gap to seven. Faasolo added another bucket to begin the second before Walker converted a fastbreak layup to cut the gap to 13-10 with 7:05 remaining.
After Alaiyah San Juan drained her first 3-pointer of the game off an assist from Hailey Hoff, Jenna Duley grabbed a rebound and moved down the court quickly for another fastbreak layup to tie the game at 15 and a Walker free-throw gave the Penguins their first lead of the game with 4:39 left in the half. After trading buckets Duley found San Juan in the corner in transition for a 23-18 lead but Sydney Moran answered on the other end to make it a two point game at the break.
Dominican got its offense going in the third as Faasolo laid it in on an assist from Alex Salise and San Juan hit her third 3-pointer of the game to spark a 7-0 run that put it in front 30-23 with 6:34 remaining in the period. Walker connected on a short jumper before Duley found Hoff for a 3-pointer to give the Penguins its largest lead of the game at 37-29. Things heated up from there as Jaycee Goldsmith came off the bench to score eight quick points for the Eagles and tie the game 41-41. Biola retook the lead on a Laila Walker layup with 59 seconds left on the clock and it held on to a 50-49 lead heading to the final period of play.
The Eagles continued to remain hot from outside knocking down 3-pointers every time the Penguins cut within a single possession in the final quarter until Walker gave the Penguins back the 60-59 lead with a 3-pointer from the right wing with 4:26 remaining. The game went back and forth but Kamelamela hit another 3-pointer for the Eagles to give them the 66-63 lead with 2:48 remaining and despite multiple open looks the shots would not fall for Dominican over the next two minutes. Kamelamela finally broke the scoring drought for both teams with a layup to seal the victory for Biola.
