Box Score
Phoenix, AZ --- The Academy of Art women's basketball team put up quite a fight tonight at Antelope Gym against #10 Grand Canyon University. However, after 40 grueling minutes of play the Urban Knights could not hold on down the stretch and dropped the contest 74-56. Grand Canyon improves to 7-1 in the Pacific West Conference and an impressive 19-2 overall, while the Urban Knights drop to 5-6 in conference play and 7-13 overall.

“I am so proud of our team for digging deep and making Grand Canyon work for the win tonight,” Head Coach Lindsey Yamasaki said after the game.

“Turnovers became an issue for us towards the end of the game when they continued to convert buckets off them,” said Yamasaki. “A team of their caliber will expose your weaknesses and they started to do that in the last quarter.”

Both programs started the game a bit cold as each team struggled to find the bottom of the basket early on. The Urban Knights, however, struck first, causing an Antelope turnover which resulted in a Devin London lay-up to put ART U on the board first. ART U, maybe feeling the nerves of battling the 10th ranked team in the nation, committed 10 turnovers before the first media timeout on the floor. Despite the early turnovers, the Academy of Art women kept the 'Lopes within striking distance until midway through the first half.

Jasmine English helped get the ART U offense flowing as she knocked down a jumper with 10 minutes remaining in the half. Nicole DeRosier also got into the action, hitting a jumper the next play down the floor to bring the Urban Knights to within six points, 16-10. A DeRosier three made it a seven point game, 20-13, with six minutes remaining the half. With the lead at eight points and two minutes remaining, Jessica Nolan fought for an offensive rebound and put back which put ART U down 28-22. Jasmine English capped a 9-0 run with a jumper to bring the Urban Knights to within four points as time expired. ART U's nine straight points cut the Antelopes 13 point lead to four points as the teams entered the locker room. The Urban Knights' defense kept Grand Canyon scoreless for the last three minutes of the contest, and the nation's leading scorer, Samantha Murphy, to just four points in the half.

The Antelopes opened the second half with a 8-5 run to extend their lead to seven. However, Verity Peets cut the score to five, 36-31, with 15 minutes remaining. After a media timeout the Urban Knights fired back with a three pointer by Nicole DeRosier which brought the score to within two points. Every time Grand Canyon started to distance themselves from the Urban Knights, ART U would muster a rally of their own. Verity Peets registered her eighth point of the contest off a pass from Jessica Nolan to bring the Urban Knights to within five points with 14:04 on the clock. A foul on a DeRosier three pointer put the 82% free-throw shooter at the line, and after knocking down all three shots, ART U was down 53-47.

The Urban Knights continued to hustle as Devin London drove the ball coast-to-coast to bringing ART U within three points with 10 minutes left. ART U held Murphy to just 12 points through 31 minutes of play. However, the senior guard started to heat up down the stretch, and as she did so did the 'Lopes offense. After 30 minutes of solid play by the Urban Knights the Antelopes began to convert off of costly turnovers and built a lead that the Urban Knights could not overcome. Ultimately, ART U dropped the contest 74-56.

The Urban Knights held the nation's leading scorer to 24 points, below her average, and to just four points in the first half. “We knew we had to take Murphy out of the game if we wanted to keep it close. We managed to do a very good job for 25 or so minutes, but it wasn't enough,” said Yamasaki. “We held her to four at the half. It was refreshing to see us stick to the game plan and for it to pay off. Maddie, Madeline, Devin and Lorraine all had a shot at her, and they all worked extremely hard on defense to make her earn every point [10 of which came from the free-throw line].” Rosalyn Nelson was next on the Grand Canyon roster with 19 points, seven steals and five assists.

For the Urban Knights, Nicole DeRosier led the charge with 16 points. DeRosier was a perfect 3-of-3 from long range, 5-of-5 from the free-throw line, and was 4-of-9 from the field. Jessica Nolan earned her ninth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Nolan also added three assists and three steals in the game. Verity Peets and Devin London each added eight and seven points respectively, with London dishing out three assists and notching four steals.

“I am proud of everyone tonight. Nicole and Jess both had good games for us; they continue to be our most consistent threats on the floor. We know that if we can compete for that long with the #10 team in the nation then we are on the right track. The big challenge for us will be bouncing back and playing another nationally ranked team 48 hours!” said Yamasaki.

The Urban Knights are back in action Saturday February 12th when they take on #13 Dixie State College at Burns Arena in St. George, Utah. Tip off is set for 5:30 PM (GMT).