SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Though Academy of Art women's basketball held NCAA Division II's leading scorer to half her average, it was Dominican who earned a 90-56 win over the Urban Knights inside Conlan Recreation Center on Thursday evening.
Turnovers and low field goal percentages plagued both teams early on, but it was a jumper by freshman guard
Chanel Stuart and a 3-pointer from junior forward
Ines Medina that put ART U ahead 6-5 midway through the first quarter. From there, however, the Penguins executed a 25-0 run that ended up spelling the difference.
Sophomore forward
Megan Jefferson scored six straight points to break up the surge, but Dominican would build a 39-17 advantage by the time the half was complete. In the third, the Penguins pushed that margin north of 30 points and there it would stay through the entirety of the fourth en route to the 90-56 final.
Academy of Art falls to 2-11 overall and 1-9 in conference play, but did get a team-high 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting from Stuart along with eight rebounds. A career-high 16 rebounds came from the hands of Medina who added 11 points for her fourth double-double of the year. Jefferson matched her career-high with 10 points in 21 minutes of the bench.
Dominican, now 13-2 on the season and 10-1 in the PacWest, surprisingly did not get a major offensive performance from the top scorer in NCAA DII Natalie Diaz. She delivered just 13 points (less than half her per-game average) while Alanna Scott erupted for 32 points backed by a 6-of-12 night from long range.
"We gave
Lily Perkins a tough assignment in this game to guard the leading scorer in the nation and she did a great job of limiting her touches and shots," said head coach
Camille Williams. "Chanel showed great improvement and hustled on both ends of the court. And Ines continues to work diligently and hunt down boards to give us possessions. Her effort gives us a boost when we need it."
ART U's five-game road swing continues this Saturday, Jan. 19 when the Urban Knights once again head across the bay to this time take on Holy Names in Oakland at 4 p.m.
