Game #21
ART U Urban Knights (5-15, 4-8 PWC) vs. Dominican Penguins (14-5, 8-3 PWC)
Saturday, January 27, 2018 at 2 p.m.
San Rafael, Calif. – Conlan Center
Live Stats & Live Video

Game #22
ART U Urban Knights (5-15, 4-8 PWC) vs. Biola Eagles (7-9, 4-6 PWC)
Monday, January 29, 2018 at 5:30 p.m.
San Francisco – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats & Live Video

ART U STAYS LOCAL FOR NEXT TWO PACWEST MATCHUPS
Coming off wins in three of their past four Pacific West Conference games, the Urban Knights will face Dominican for the second time in three weeks this weekend then host new PacWest member Biola on Monday.

OPENING TIP
A full six days since its previous game, Academy of Art returns to action this Saturday, Jan. 20 with a 2 p.m. tip-off against Dominican inside the Penguins' Conlan Center in San Rafael. Two days later, ART U goes up against Biola inside Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco at 5:30 p.m. Live coverage will be available via the links above. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter & Instagram and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHT WATCH
Still the PacWest leaders in offensive rebounds per game (15.4), Academy of Art is up to 34th in NCAA Division II and is fourth in the conference in both steals (9.05) and blocks (4.0) per game. PacWest Defender of the Week for the second consecutive occasion, redshirt senior forward Pre'Franz Dominick comes in with impressive national numbers, averaging the second-most offensive rebounds per game in the entire country (5.2), the third-most total rebounds (251 – fourth in ART U single-season history), and the fourth-most rebounds per game (12.6) which is tops in the PacWest. She adds an ART U-best 16.7 points per game (fifth in the PacWest), she now has 11 double-doubles (six in her past seven games) to rank sixth in the nation. Dominick needs just nine more offensive rebounds to surpass Jasmin Guinn for the program's single-season record. Additionally, she sits at sixth in the conference in blocks per game (1.4).

Redshirt senior guard Jazzlynn Brewster ranks just three spots back of Dominick in scoring in the PacWest at 15.8 points per game and she is just a fraction behind Dominican's Vanessa Cruz in assists per game (5.4 – 24th in NCAA DII and the highest ART U single-season average to date). She is one spot ahead of Cruz, however, at second in the conference in steals per game (2.5). Senior forward Helena Orts has offered double-digit rebounding efforts in her past four games and enters the weekend seventh in the conference in that category (8.6 per game) as well as ninth in scoring (15.6 ppg) to make Academy of Art the only team in the PacWest with three scorers among the top nine. Orts is not far from Brewster among the conference's steals leaders, averaging 2.2 thefts per contest.

PENGUINS FREEZING OPPONENTS IN SAN RAFAEL
Currently third in the PacWest standings at 8-3 in conference, Dominican has returned to its winning ways since suffering an 83-78 loss to Academy of Art on Jan. 10. Four consecutive victories (three at home) helped the Penguins move to 7-0 on their home court. Dominican's most recent victory was the closest of the four as the Penguins topped Notre Dame de Namur 68-66 in Belmont thanks to a pair of free throws by Sydney Larocca with three seconds left. Dominican is ahead of ART U in steals per game (9.95) at second in the conference and ranks third in assists per game (16.68), but most impressively, the Penguins are the current PacWest leaders in scoring average (81.9 points per game). Natalie Diaz comes in as the top scorer in the conference at 24.3 points per contest while the aforementioned Vanessa Cruz is the leader in assists (5.5 per game) and tied for third in steals (2.2 per game). The Knights' win earlier this season gave them a 15-2 lead in the all-time matchup with Dominican.

WHO ARE THE BIOLA EAGLES?
Now 16 games into their first season as PacWest Conference members after departing the NAIA's Golden State Athletic Conference, Biola is just one spot ahead of Academy of Art in the standings. After starting the season 2-7, Biola has gone 5-2 since that time and begins its Bay Area roadtrip with Holy Names (Jan. 25) and NDNU (Jan. 27) prior to meeting the Urban Knights. In several low-scoring matchups thus far, the Eagles rank fifth in the conference in scoring defense, allowing their opponents just 66.2 points per game. Demoria White is BU's top offensive threat, putting up 17.7 points per game (fourth in the PacWest), doing much of her damage from long range as she is tied for the conference lead in 3-poitners made per game (2.8) and averages the third-highest three-point percentage (.376). Monday will be the first meeting of ART U and Biola to date.

DIXIE STATE MAKES LATE PUSH TO TOP KNIGHTS IN REMATCH
Academy of Art University women's basketball clutched a 37-29 advantage at halftime despite a limited roster, but 22-4 Dixie State run bridging the third and fourth quarters spelled the difference in a 75-65 final inside Kezar Pavilion on Jan. 20. The Pacific West Conference rematch saw three Urban Knights score 17+ points, however, a 34-3 advantage in bench points helped the Trailblazers earn the victory.

LOOKING AHEAD
The month of February starts with ART U heading to Southern California for games against Point Loma (Feb. 3) in San Diego and California Baptist (Feb. 5) in Riverside.