Women’s basketball: Dominican withstands Point Loma rally
The Penguins were hungry to start the new year with a win over PacWest Conference women’s basketball rival Point Loma. Dominican University was facing a three-game skid against the Sea Lions that stretched back to 2024, and included a stinging loss in the conference championship last March.
Point Loma, with Branson School alumnus Hannah Golan leading the charge, nearly snatched another comeback win, but host Dominican University made sure history did not repeat itself Thursday with a gritty 80-74 victory during a New Year’s Day showcase in San Rafael.
“We figured this year to be two of the better teams in the conference,” said Dominican head coach Tim LaKose, whose team is now riding a three-game winning streak heading into Saturday’s home game against Concordia-Irivine. “We really look forward to getting a chance to play better here and get that big win toward our goal of winning the conference.”
A double-digit lead at the start of the fourth quarter nearly evaporated against Point Loma (8-4, 4-2 PacWest), but Dominican (9-2, 3-2 PacWest) got a key steal in the waning seconds and then sealed the win at the free-throw line.
“Honestly, I think we were just kind of rushing ourselves, and we weren’t playing our basketball anymore,” said Penguins redshirt freshman Mahliya Wilson, who finished with a game-high 21 points, as well as seven steals and five rebounds. “When teams speed, when we let teams speed us up, we don’t play our brand of basketball. So I recognized that. I just tried to slow down the ball and tried to get some more movement within our offense.”
Wilson dropped in a layup to open the scoring in the fourth quarter and give Dominican a 66-55 edge, but that didn’t hold up. Back-to-back 3-pointers by the Sea Lions’ Ruby Vlahov and Maddie Morrow cut the gap to two points with time winding down, before Dominican’s Keyonee Neal hit a 3-pointer of her own.
With just 25 seconds on the clock, the Sea Lions got the ball to Golan, who was fouled driving to the basket. Golan sank both free throws to cut the score to 73-72.
“I always believe we can come back,” said Golan, who finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. “We chipped away and got close.”
Vlahov poured in 16 points, including four 3-pointers, for the Sea Lions, who got nine points from Izzy Navarro.
Not wasting precious time, Point Loma sent Dominican junior Kaylyn Buchanon to the free-throw line, where she missed the first, but drained the second shot. After a timeout, Point Loma inbounded the ball at midcourt, but the Penguins got the steal to secure the win and snap their skid against the Sea Lions.
“The last time we played Point Loma, we were kind of timid and we didn’t bring our best game to them,” said Wilson, whose Penguins lost at Point Loma, 76-71, on Dec. 13. “We knew that today if we brought our defense and we pressured them, that this would be a completely different game. Our main focus is just playing defense. We know we can score.”
Buchanan finished with 14 points and six assists for the Penguins, while Neal added 12 points and eight rebounds. Dominican freshman Janiya Sawyer chipped in 10 points.
“For such a young team, to get this experience and to have this success, I think validates the work they’ve been putting in,” LaKose said of his roster, which features nine freshmen. “They can see the maturity in our team, and especially the growth each day. It’s been extremely rewarding. To see the payoff on the court validates the work we do.”
Golan got Point Loma rolling at the start of the game with a steal and a layup, but Wilson quickly rallied the Penguins, who went on an 11-0 run in the first quarter. The Sea Lions persisted, taking a 28-26 lead in the second quarter on a 3-pointer from Emma Sales. The Penguins quickly tied the score and, with a series of runs, went into the break with a 45-33 lead.
“We really wanted to turn up the defense and continue to pressure, attack the basket and make our free throws,” LaKose said.