Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Senior Kimi Nakamura had a team-high 18 points and four assists in the final game of her Dominican University of California women's basketball career, but the Lady Penguins' upset bid fell short in a 78-66  loss to Academy of Art on Saturday night in the Conlan Center.

Stephanie Carnes, Dominican's other senior who was honored in pre-game ceremonies, had seven points and three assists in the last game of her college career.  She helped the Lady Penguins (5-19/4-12) score nine straight points in the first half when Dominican built a 13-3 lead against the Urban Knights (20-8/13-5), the 10th ranked team this week in the NCAA Division II West Region rankings.

“When it comes down to it, it's a team game and it's about winning,” said Nakamura, who averaged 13.1 points a game in her final 10 games to finish her Dominican career with 768 points. “I truly felt that everyone on our  team was really on the same page tonight and really wanted to win whether it was for the seniors or it was for themselves or for the coaches. Everyone stepped up.”

Nakamura, who connected on 4-of-7 three-pointers in the game, gave the Lady Penguins their last lead at 37-36, before the Urban Knights went on a 15-4 run to take control of the contest, extending their lead to as many as 12 points. Dominican did close within three points three times, the last time with 5:19 to go, on baskets by Carnes, Lauren Hyatt (10 points) and Sarah Nelson, who had 10 points, a team-high 13 rebounds and a game-best four blocked shots. Nelson, No. 6 in the country this week in blocks, finished the season with 16 rejections in her last six games.

“It was bittersweet,” said Carnes, a former walk-on who started 56 games in her Dominican career including the last 16. “We know that we shot ourselves in the foot at the end of games.  How we played in the first 30-35 minutes and how we played in the final five minutes went downhill. We've been trying to work on that, and we're getting better.”

As they did the last time they played Academy of Art, the Lady Penguins jumped to a sizeable lead against the PacWest's highest scoring offensive team by scoring nine consecutive points despite losing starting guard Salonika Quewon-Owens for the game with an ankle injury.  The 9-0 run started with a 3-point shot by Nakamura and ended with a runner by Nakamura and, in between, Carnes scored on a driving lay-up and assisted on a basket by Melissa Boscarino that caused the Urban Knights to call timeout.

At one point, Dominican's defense had forced six turnovers and limited Academy of Art to one assist. That's significant because the Urban Knights entered the game as the No. 1 team in the nation in NCAA Division II in turnover margin at plus 8.89 per game.

After Nakamura gave the Lady Penguins a 22-15 lead with her second 3-pointer, Academy of Art, on the strength of offensive rebounds, battled back with an 11-1 run. Ariel Dale's lay-up delivered the first Urban Knights' lead of the game with 6:30 left in the second quarter. Dale all scorers with 20 points.

Dominican eventually tied the game at 32 on a Hyatt basket off an assist by Nakamura.  She and Hyatt topped the Lady Penguins with eight points apiece in the first half but Academy of Art, with an 11-3 on the offensive boards, took a 34-32 advantage to intermission. The Urban Knights hurt the Lady Penguins' cause by grabbing 23 offensive rebounds in the game to 10 for Dominican.

Though they lost the last 11 games of the season, the  Lady Penguins played their best basketball of year against some of the best teams in the PacWest. Academy of Art is the No. 3 seed in the upcoming PacWest tournament. Dominican also played tough games against fifth-ranked Grand Canyon (a 13-point home loss on Feb. 16) and eighth-ranked Hawaii Pacific (a seven-point loss in Hawaii on Jan. 9).