SAN FRANCISCO - The Point Loma women's basketball team looked primed to knock off PacWest-leader Academy of Art but a late 18-3 run by the Urban Knights lifted them over the Sea Lions, 71-62, on Thursday, Jan. 7.
 
The victory allowed ARTU to extend their lead in the PacWest standings as they improved to 6-0 in league play (11-5 overall). The loss drops PLNU to 8-5 on the year and to 2-4 in the PacWest.
 
The Sea Lions had a 37-27 lead at the half and a 53-49 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the Urban Knights posted timely run they needed to come away with the victory. The teams traded baskets to start the fourth quarter with PLNU leading 55-52 before ARTU outscored them 18-3 in a seven minute span to turn the three-point deficit into a 12-point lead. PacWest leading scorer, Jasmin Guinn scored nine of her team-leading 21 points during this stretch to fuel the comeback.
 
"Coach (Westphal) always preaches about 'poised when being pressured' and avoiding 'game slippage,' but we let both of these things happen today," said PLNU assistant coach Dwayne Cosby. "ARTU is a very good team that plays great at home, but we got beat because they were tougher, and we didn't stick to the game plan. We would make them miss shots, but not rebound. We knew what their personnel tendencies were, but we let them go to their strengths."
 
Madison West scored 23 points for PLNU to lead all scorers. She was 9-of-16 from the field and 5-of-9 from behind the arc. She made all five of the Sea Lions' 3-pointers in the game. Sydney Tonack registered her first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Both women played all 40 minutes for PLNU.
 
Turnovers were the Achilles' heel of the Sea Lions in the game. PLNU turned the ball over 22 times in the contest compared to just eight for ARTU. The Urban Knights turned those Sea Lion mistakes into 17 points. Academy of Art also took advantage on the offensive glass, outscoring Point Loma 18-4 in second chance points.
 
"This is a tough loss to process, because on offense we executed with our two best players playing poorly and we were controlling the game for 30 minutes," Cosby added, "but we did not put a premium on defense, ball security and rebounding, and it cost us. Hopefully Saturday we show vast improvement in all areas."
 
PLNU will return home to host Hawaii Hilo on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 2:00 p.m.