Box Score

Turlock, CA (11/29/08) -- The Academy of Art University women's basketball team drops to 0-6 on the year as they lost another disappointing game, this time to the Cal State Monterey Bay Otters, 64-72, in their final game of the Cal State Stanislaus Thanksgiving Classic at the Warrior Arena on Saturday, Nov. 29. 

Junior guard Jacqui Heck finished with a game-high 19 points to lead all scorers on the night, playing all 40 minutes and shooting 7-for-16 from the field, 2-for-6 from behind the arc and connecting on 3-of-4 free throws. Heck also had six rebounds and one block. Junior guard Caprice Hall chipped in with 15 points, six rebounds, three steals and was a perfect 2-for-2 from the line while junior point guard Sondra Stilwell contributed as well, finishing with 14 points six assists, three steals and was 3-for-4 from the charity stripe.

A key to the Urban Knights loss was the contribution, or lack thereof, from the bench. CSUMB's bench racked up 28 points while the Urban Knights' bench combined for only seven points, four of which came from senior guard Ali Tyson-Taufoou and 3-pointer from junior guard Arika Navy.

Reeling from a disappointing loss the day before, the Academy of Art University jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, but was unable to hold off the the Otters for too long as they rallied back to tie the game at 16-16 and then went on an 8-2 run. CSUMB held their largest lead of the half, 36-25, on a layup with 3:29 on the board. The Urban Knights rallied back to cut the lead to three points until a lay up pushed the lead to five to finish the half at 38-33.

The Urban Knights started the second half strong but the Otters came out a little bit stronger extending their lead to 12 with 14 minutes to go in the contest. The young tenacious AAU squad never gave up and continued to play on the heels of the Otters keeping the game withing striking distance. They got the lead down to four with 51 seconds left on the clock on a 3-pointer by Heck. But unfortunately that was as close as the Knights would get and they were forced to foul to stop the clock.

The Urban Knights are back on the road again this weekend, taking on the Bethany Bruins Friday evening in Scotts Valley, CA. Tip-off is set for 5:30 PM. AAU then then plays the Dominican Penguins Saturday evening in San Rafael, CA with tip-off time set for 6:00 PM.