BELMONT, Calif. – After trailing by 12 at halftime, the Sonoma State women's basketball team rallied for 54 second-half points to defeat Dominican, 87-84, on Saturday afternoon at Walter Gleason Gym in Belmont. Five players scored in double figures to lead the Seawolves, who improved to 2-0 this season. The Penguins fell to 1-1.
Kylie Kiech scored the team high of 20 points, 13 came in the second half and was 6-8 from the free-throw line.
Carly Gill scored a career high 17 points, nine of which came from the free throw line.
Madison Burroughs scored 15 points, was 5-8 from the field goal range and had three steals.
The top rebounder of the night was
Kim Savio with 12 followed by
Taylor Todd with 7. Sonoma had 36 defensive rebounds to their 19 offensive. As a team they totaled 20 assists, higher than any game of the 2015-16 season.
The first half of the game was tough for the Seawolves. Offensively they only totaled 33 points, 13 came from the free-throw line, and defensively gathered fourteen team fouls.
With just under four minutes left in the first quarter, the teams had tied the game at 14 each. The Penguins then scored a layup and a three-pointer which Sonoma answered with two made free-throws. Fouls from Sonoma allowed Dominican the opportunity to make 3 of 4 free-throws and score a layup for good measure to get to 24-18. The quarter finished with four more Penguin free-throws, and two Seawolf free-throws and a layup to go into the second quarter with only a six-point difference 28-22.
The first two minutes of the second quarter saw a Dominican layup and three-pointer to extend their lead to eleven. The Seawolves answered with a layup of their own, only to see Dominican score two more and a free-throw to reach a greater lead of 14 with 4:51 left in the quarter. For the rest of the half, Sonoma scored five free-throws and two layups. The first half ended Dominican 45 to Sonoma 33.
In the third quarter, Sonoma found success and outscored Dominican 30-17. Immediately
Taylor Todd was fouled on a made jumper and made the extra shot. The Penguins answered with a 3-pointer and just over a minute later Kiech returned the favor with a 3-pointer of her own. With 6:30 left in the quarter, Sonoma went on a 21-10 run and with a 3-pointer by Gill at 42 seconds left gained the lead 60-61. The Penguins scored a layup, but Sonoma made one with three seconds left to hold the lead into the fourth and final quarter.
The Seawolves pushed their lead to eight, and held it there until 1:22 left in the game. The Penguins scored a 3-pointer, layup, and free throw and suddenly the Seawolves' lead was down to 2 with less than a minute to go. Gill and Burroughs each made one from the charity stripe to the Penguin's one and were able to pull off the win 87-84.
Sonoma State will play Dixie State University at 5:30pm at Chico State on Friday, November 18.
