BELMONT, Calif. – Aggressively defending and converting turnovers into transition points, Academy of Art women's basketball was locked in a back-and-forth battle with Dominican on Tuesday inside Walter Gleason Gym. A game-high 28 points from junior guard Lauryn Manns combined with an all-around performance by freshman guard Brooke Rodgers highlighted what ended up being an 84-80 loss to the Penguins despite 33 points off turnovers, the largest total by an ART U team since 2017.

A mixture of offense from Rodgers, Manns, and redshirt sophomore guard Hailey McCoy built a 13-2 lead for the Urban Knights out of the gate, but Dominican came all the way back to tie things at 18-18 in the final minute of the first quarter. Redshirt freshman Kaila Murrell ended the opening quarter with a triple though the Penguins moved back in front by seven through the first half of the second.

Freshman guard Alyssa Munn sparked three consecutive 3-pointers by Academy of Art during an 11-0 surge, but Dominican answered once more and would have taken a lead into halftime were it not for another triple by Manns in the waning seconds that put ART U in front 42-40.

The Penguins and Knights traded runs in the first portion of the third before two steals turned into fastbreak points for Manns. After another transition basket for Rodgers and a 3-pointer from junior guard Chanel Stuart pushed a 62-58 advantage, Dominican forced the fourth tie of the quarter with scores on consecutive possessions.

That momentum carried into the fourth where the Penguins extended the run to 13-0, but junior guard/forward Ladun Akako hit a big triple to keep the margin to single digits. Free throws by Munn and a three-point play in transition from Rodgers kept Academy of Art within striking distance and a 3-pointer  from Stuart with just under two minutes left made it a one-possession contest. Unfortunately, free throws by Dominican were the only points scored in the last 40 seconds as the visitors emerged 84-80 victors by the sounding of final horn.

ART U, who moves to 1-4 on the season and in PacWest play, had the second consecutive breakout scoring effort from Manns who posted 28 points on 12-for-31 shooting from the field including 4-for-5 from distance. She added six steals, four rebounds, and three assists. Recording her second double-double of the year, Rodgers finished with 12 points in addition to season-highs in rebounds (12), assists (7), and steals (4).

Stuart contributed 12 points and nine rebounds off the bench, Murrell delivered 11 points, and Akako totaled 10 rebounds in her first start of the year. Munn collected nine points, five rebounds, and four steals. As a team, the 25 turnovers Academy of Art forced tied the season-high from Feb. 6 and the 33 points off turnovers matched the total from Feb. 15, 2017.

Improving to 1-4 both overall and in conference, Dominican was led by 25 points from Julia Razo plus a double-double in the form of 23 points and 16 rebounds from Brittney Cedeno.

The Urban Knights and Penguins will meet once again this Friday, Mar. 5 for a 2 p.m. tipoff back inside Walter Gleason Gym.