BELMONT, Calif. – Dominican women's basketball was unable to close out quarters in a narrow 76-71 loss Friday afternoon to Academy of Art at Walter Gleason Gymnasium.

Senior forward Riley Friauf led all players with 21 points to go with eight rebounds for the Penguins (1-5). Senior guard Julia Razo added 18 points and seven rebounds for the Penguins. Lauryn Manns led four Urban Knights (2-4) in double figures with 14 points, while Megan Jefferson added a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Razo started an early 8-2 run with a pair of free throws and then ended it with a midrange jumper to push the Penguins ahead 16-9 with three minutes remaining in the first quarter. After trading baskets for the next two minutes, Alyssa Munn knocked down a jumper and followed it with a layup to lead the Urban Knights on an 8-2 run of their own to retake the 21-20 lead heading to the second quarter.

The teams continued a seesaw battle to start the period until four quick points by Camryn Figueroa pushed Dominican ahead 28-24 with 7:23 left in the half. One minute later, Friauf began a personal 6-0 run and added a steal to push the Penguin lead to nine with four minutes remaining. Once again ART U made a late run, this time it was Lauryn Manns who scored on back-to-back possessions to start the 8-0 burst to close the gap to 39-38 at the break.

Kaila Murrell put in the first points of the second half for the Urban Knights to give them back the lead as the teams once again began to trade the lead. Neither team was able to distance themselves by more than a possession and Figueroa was able to cut to the basket for a layup before time expired to give Dominican the 51-49 lead heading to the final period. 

The Penguins continue to build on the momentum to begin the fourth quarter as Friauf scored four points during an 8-0 run to take the 59-49 lead in the first minute. Hailey McCoy hit a 3-pointer for ART U to close the gap down to five before knocking down a second through contact to make it 63-60 with seven minutes remaining. 

Megan Jefferson then bookended an 8-0 Urban Knight run with a pair of layups to once again retake the slim lead with 4:21 left on the clock. The Penguins kept it close with an answer each time ART U pushed the lead to two possessions, but they were unable to capitalize on their defensive stops in the final minute and the Urban Knights sealed it from the free-throw line.

Dominican will return to the court Saturday to take on Academy of Art at 3 p.m. PST at Tobin Gymnasium. Live stats and broadcast information will be available on our schedule page.