SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Four teams officially will begin their 2011-12 women's basketball seasons on Friday, November 11 when Dominican University of California hosts a four-team, two-day California Collegiate Athletic Association/Pacific West Conference Challenge in the Conlan Center.

Cal State East Bay in Hayward will play the PacWest's Academy of Art University of San Francisco in the first game at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, November 11. Host Dominican will take on the CCAA's Humboldt State in the second game at 3:00 p.m.

On Saturday, November 12 Humboldt State will tipoff against Academy of Art at 3:00 p.m. followed by a 5:00 p.m. contest between Dominican and Cal State East Bay.

The Lady Penguins, coached by Brianna Chambers, are coming off an 8-18 record last season. They won three of their last four games to finish in fifth place in the PacWest.

Dominican played three exhibition games in a six-day span in the past week. The Lady Penguins defeated Pacific Union College at home but lost road games against NCAA Division I opponents USF and Sacramento State.

Junior Kimi Nakamura was the team's leading scorer in exhibition play with a 14.3 points per game, a point better than sophomore Kayla Valentine. Freshmen Sarah Nelson and Ariana Flynn both posted double-digit scoring performances.

Coached by Joddie Gleason, Humboldt State is coming off a 15-12 record last season. In exhibition play, The Lumberjacks beat CSU San Marcos and William Jessup University but lost to NCAA Division I UC  Davis. Senior guard Kayla Williams was Humboldt's leading scorer in exhibition play, highlighted by a 22-point outing against CSUSM. Junior Lisa Petty, an All CCAA first-team selection last season, also starred for the Lumberjacks.

The Pioneers of Cal State East Bay, coached by Suzy Barcomb, had only one exhibition game, a loss at NCAA Division I San Jose State. The Pioneers were 4-22 in Barcomb's first season and will bring a young team to the Conlan Center. Sophomore Cassie Coble scored 15 points against SJSU while teammates Brianna Terrance, a sophomore, and freshman Micah Walker contributed 12 points apiece.

LaNay Larson will be making her head coaching debut for Academy of Art in the CCAA/PacWest Challenge. The former Dixie State College assistant inherits an Urban Knights squad that posted an 11-14 record last season. Senior Lorraine Etchell and sophomore Alisa Griggs each scored 16 points in AAU's exhibition loss at NCAA Division I University of Pacific.

Tickets for all four games will be available at the door. One ticket is good for both games on the selected day.

All four games will be broadcast live from the Conlan Center. Live video will be available at http://www.dominicanathletics.com/livevideo and live audio will be available at http://radio.dominican.edu.