IRVINE, Calif. - The Concordia Eagles, winners in six of their previous eight games, had a tough task on their hands Saturday night.  The Dominican University of California Penguins entered the game with a 13-3 overall record, 10-2 in PacWest play.

Dominican is led by high scoring Natalie Diaz, who finished with 41 points in the meeting between the two teams in San Rafael.  Early on, you could see the game plan for the Eagles.  On the offensive end, they continually fed the post, while on the other end, they double-teamed Diaz in the post on nearly every catch, forcing her to kick it out to her teammates for long jump shots.

The Penguins were selective early on the offensive end, with crisp passes, finding the open player and taking open shots.  The Eagles, on the other end, struggled to knock in open looks.  CUI shot just 33.3 percent in the first quarter.  While the Eagles were able to hold Diaz scoreless, the Penguins were able to do the same to CUI's star, Michaela VanderKlugt, keeping her out of the scoring column until she knocked in a jump shot at the buzzer to end the first.  At the end of one, Dominican held a 17-10 lead.

The Penguins were able to stretch their lead to 11 early in the second, but the Eagles slowly clawed back in the game.  Both teams played close, tenacious defense throughout the first half.  While the Penguins were able to find open looks in the first quarter, the Eagles frustrated Dominican in the second quarter, forcing five turnovers, including four by Diaz.  The Eagles continued to pound the post in the second quarter, and while the pace remained slow and all baskets were hard to come by, they did briefly cut the lead to five.  The Penguins closed the first half on a mini-run to extend their lead to eight at the end of 20 minutes.  At halftime, the score was Dominican 33, CUI 25.  Diaz was shut out for the entire first half.

In the third quarter, the Penguins went on a run to gain separation, pushing their lead into double digits and holding on the rest of the way.  Though Diaz collected her fourth foul just four minutes into the half, the Eagles couldn't take advantage.  Both teams continued to play stingy defense throughout.  In the third quarter, the Eagles were held to just 23.1 percent shooting from the floor.

Late in the third and throughout much of the fourth quarter, Francesca Wade-Sanchez provided a boost for the Eagles.  Though she only scored four points, she collected seven rebounds, six coming on the offensive end in just 12 minutes.  In the fourth quarter, defense continued to rule the night.  The Eagles shot just 31.3 percent for the quarter, while holding the Penguins to 28.6 percent.  While the Eagles played with great defensive intensity, it wasn't enough, and they fail by a final score of 68-52.

The Eagles' next game is on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 5:30 PM at CU Arena.

For the full Concordia University Irvine women's basketball schedule, click here