SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball closed out 2023 with a 61-41 victory Saturday over Westmont at Murchison Gymnasium

Keyonee Neal led the way with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Penguins (10-3, 3-2 PacWest). Alaiyah San Juan added 16 points and six assists going 4-for-6 from behind the arc. Sage Kramer led the Warriors (5-8, 2-4 PacWest) with 13 points and nine rebounds. 

Dominican was efficient on both ends of the floor shooting 44% from the field and 36.4% from distance while holding Westmont to 29.6% shooting from the field and 14.3% from behind the arc.

The Penguins got off to a blistering start as Alex Salise, Jenna Duley and Neal all knocked down shots beyond the arc while the defense forced two turnovers in the first two minutes. The Warriors answered with six unanswered to close the gap to 9-6 over the next two-minute segment to cool the momentum. After trading buckets for several minutes Kramer scored four quick points to give Westmont its first lead at 17-16 with 2 minutes left in the opening quarter. San Juan broke a two-minute scoreless drought with a 3-pointer from the right wing and Neal added a free throw make to push give Dominican the 20-17 lead heading into the second.

San Juan capped the 8-0 Penguin run early in the second quarter as she buried a 3-pointer from the corner as Dominican began to re-establish their momentum and build a 24-16 lead. Things settled into a very defensive minded quarter from there until Neal connected on her second 3-pointer from the left corner before driving inside for a layup to send the Penguins into the half leading 31-20.

Olga Faasolo connected on a short jumper before San Juan buried her third 3-pointer of the game to get the Dominican offense rolling to start the second half. Neal scored four of the next six off a layup and a short jumper to push the Penguin's lead to 42-23 at the halfway point of the period. After the Warriors cut the lead to 14, San Juan took over on offense hitting back-to-back jumpers from the midrange before adding another make from distance to rebuild the 19-point lead. Mikayla Amoroso then added a layup and Salise connected on a floating jumper at the buzzer to push the lead to 53-30 heading to the final period of play.

Duley ended a 15-2 Penguin run with an offensive board and a putback to push the lead to 57-30 with 5:48 remaining on the clock. It was the largest lead of the game as the Penguins slowed down its offense to cruise to a victory.

Dominican will return home to take on Hawai'i Pacific on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Conlan Center.