PacWest Release
Phoenix, AZ -- Senior guard
Devin London and sophomore forward
Alisa Griggs repeated with Pacific West Conference Weekly Top 10 Honor Roll selections following a 2-0 week for Academy of Art women's basketball as part of the Dixie State Thanksgiving Classic. Each Urban Knight captain took turns leading the team in scoring with London tying ART U's single-game points record in an overtime victory versus Cal State Los Angeles and Griggs producing a career-high en route to a comeback win against Western Oregon. The honors were announced by the PacWest Media Office in Phoenix, AZ on Monday, Nov. 28 for games played Nov. 21-27.
Matching up with a team that had stolen an overtime victory from the Knights last season, London spearheaded an impressive second half Academy of Art run to send the game into an extra period once again. Nine of her 29 points came in the second half including a pair in the final minute and a half to cut the Eagles' lead to two. Then, in overtime, London not only helped ART U establish a six-point advantage, but she also furthered that margin by knocking down four free throws in the final 20 seconds (London was 7-of-8 from the foul line in the contest). The Oak Park, IL native became the second Urban Knight to score a program record 29 points in a single game over the past two years. She also grabbed nine rebounds, was 2-of-2 from three-point range, and added four assists as well as three steals.
“Devin had an incredible game,” head coach
LaNay Larson said. “She made great decisions, took great shots, and we're always happy when she has more assists than turnovers. It was an all-around great game for her and by far the best game I've ever seen her play. We're really proud of her.”
London followed up Friday's game by doing a little bit of everything in Academy of Art's victory over Western Oregon the following afternoon. She scored six points while adding four rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Over the two games, London averaged 17.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. The senior ranked fifth in scoring, 11th in rebounding, and third in assist average for the week in the PacWest. Her 3.0 steals per game tied her for third in the conference for the week and her 87.5% free throw percentage was 10th overall. She remains signficantly ahead of all other PacWest players with a 3.5 steals per game average this year.
Griggs, currently the ART U scoring leader, once again turned in two productive games this past week. One of four Urban Knights to score in double figures Friday against CSULA, the sophomore forward posted 12 points, but was able to contribute in other ways as well. She grabbed a game-high five offensive rebounds, finishing with seven boards in total, and dished out five assists. In addition, Griggs scored Academy of Art's final layup of regulation which tied the game, 69-69, with 21 seconds left.
"Alisa always plays hard; that kid never has a bad game," Coach Larson said after Friday's contest.
Versus Western Oregon on Saturday afternoon, Griggs in fact had the best game of her ART U career, scoring 21 points (on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor) and securing eight rebounds. Of her scoring career-high (which bested her previous high of 18 last season), 12 points came in the second half when Academy of Art rallied back from down by as many as nine. Griggs was again a ferocious rebounder with five boards coming on the offensive glass.
In the two victories, Griggs averaged 16.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. She ranked sixth in scoring and was tied for fifth in rebounding for the week in the PacWest. The Milwaukie, OR native is now among the top four scorers in the conference.
London and Griggs each take home their second PacWest Weekly honor this season. For Griggs, it is the third of her career and London's fifth since donning the ART U red and black for the first time last year.
