Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Their pride stung by a 44-point loss at Academy of Art eight days ago, the upset-minded Dominican University of California Lady Penguins gave the Urban Knights all they could handle in a 77-69 loss at Conlan Center on Tuesday. Dominican, which trailed by 30 points at halftime on Jan. 30, actually had a lead in the second half and it was a four-point ballgame with four minutes to play.

The win was the ninth in a row for Academy of Art (14-6/10-2) and lifted them into a first-place tie with Dixie State College in the Pacific West Conference standings. The Lady Penguins (3-18/2-9) suffered their third consecutive defeat, though they outrebounded the Knights, 53-52, 19-16 on the offensive end.

“It was a good game to have playing well going to Hawai'i,” said Head Coach Brianna Chambers, whose team leaves Friday for a 10-day, four-game road trip. “It was encouraging that our team came back and played so well after last week's game [at AAU]. We showed up to play today and played hard for 40 minutes.”

Senior co-captain Te Manu Whakataki "Taki" Te Koi paced the Lady Penguins with a game-high 17 points and eight rebounds. Freshman Ariana Flynn had 15 points and six rebounds and Sarah Nelson, a 6-foot-4 freshman, netted 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.

The Lady Penguins took a stunning 37-36 lead on two foul shots with 17:04 left in the game by Stephanie Carnes, who celebrated her 21st birthday by scoring eight points. And Dominican tied the game at 40 on a three-pointer by Te Koi with 15:39 to go.  

When Kimi Nakamura (eight points) nailed a 3-pointer to make the score 71-67 with four minutes remaining, the Knights called timeout and the Penguins were thinking upset.

In their first game, the Lady Penguins were outrebounded 37-5 on the offensive boards and the Knights utilized that advantage to attempt 97 shots in the game. On Tuesday in the rematch, Dominican limited them to 27 fewer shots.

The Lady Penguins came out fired up in the first half. Te Koi rallied Dominican from an early deficit to give the Penguins their first lead, 11-10, on a 3-pointer from the corner. The Knights responded with a 6-0 run but Dominican fought back. A Nelson hook shot, a  Carnes' driving basket and two free throws by Flynn pushed the Lady Penguins back in front, 17-16,with 8:20 left before intermission.

However, ArtU retaliated by reeling off nine consecutive points to assume control of the contest.

But Natalie Bentz, who had six rebounds in the game, provided a boost off the bench and three-pointers by Nakamura, Flynn, and Te Koi closed the Knights' gap to two, 33-31 at half.

The Lady Penguins hope to snap a three-game losing streak when they play Hawai'i Pacific University on Saturday. Game time is 7:00 p.m. Pacific time.