Box Score

Honolulu, HI – Shooting over 50 percent from the floor in another impressive second half, the Urban Knights continued their success on this lengthy Hawaii roadtrip, triumphing over Chaminade 64-43 on Wednesday evening inside McCabe Gymnasium. The Knights' 20-6 run to start the second propelled them to the win in which they held the Silverswords to the lowest field goal percentage (17.2%) by an ART U opponent in program history. Freshman guard Vianai Austin went off for a career-high 16 points and seven rebounds to lead the Academy of Art University.

"At halftime, we talked about being fundamental on both ends of the court, and executing offensively," head coach LaNay Larson said. "I thought we did that in spurts in the second half. Defensively, we did everything we wanted to except we put them at the free throw line too many times."

The rims were unfriendly early on as both teams combined to go 3-for-26 in the first 10 minutes, but that would not last at least on the Urban Knights' side. ART U was able to convert at the line and got their first four points of the game on free throws by sophomore forward Alisa Griggs. After Austin nailed a 3-pointer, senior guard Lorraine Etchell stole the ball for an easy layup, and junior forward Ariel Dale knocked down a jumper, Academy of Art was back in business putting together a 13-0 burst.

Strong defense held CUH to under 20 percent shooting in the first 15 minutes and junior guard Nicol Biesek buried a triple to give ART U its largest lead of the half at 16-8. A quick 6-3 push by the Silverswords kept it close, but four points from Austin in the final 1:09 provided a bit of a cushion as the Knights entered the halftime locker room up by five, 22-17.

ART U rattled off six unanswered points to start the second period including a clever pass from senior guard Devin London to Etchell in transition. Though Chaminade tried to hang in with free throws, Academy of Art was relentless with a 7-0 run which featured an energizing three-point play converted by Griggs. The surge eventually became 20-6 as Austin reeled off five straight points in a 30-second span. Etchell free throws pushed the advantage to 20 points, 43-23, but the Silverswords made one last attempt.

The home team went on a brief 6-2 run with several trips to the free throw line, however, Dale and Griggs combined to score the next six points, swinging the momentum back to Academy of Art. After the ART U lead became 20 for the second time, there it would stay en route to the Urban Knights' 64-43 win.

Points came for all eight Urban Knights to enter the game with Austin's 16 leading the way. The freshman guard, who was 3-of-6 from distance, topped her previous high of seven points which she previously achieved on two occasions. She also grabbed seven rebounds and dealt out one assist in 33 minutes off the bench.

"Vianai had a great all around game," Coach Larson said. "She has been shooting the ball with confidence and she gave us a huge spark off the bench tonight."

Three other Academy of Art players scored in double figures as Griggs finished with 13 points, while the tandem of Etchell and Dale provided 10 points apiece. Etchell added a season-high four steals for the second time this year. ART U is now 7-6 overall, 3-2 in conference play.

"Starting off 2-0 in Hawaii is a great start for us," Coach Larson said. "It's a hard trip and it's very important to stay focused. We have two tough games to finish out the trip and will have to play really well to leave the island swith our goal of four wins."

On CUH's side, Markeshia Manning turned in a team-high nine points (exclusively on free throws) and four rebounds. Jordan Ahakuelo and Nikki Tauau each had eight and combined for 10 rebounds. Chaminade falls to 0-9 overall, 0-3 in the PacWest.

The Urban Knights will have two days before their next game on Oahu which comes against BYU-Hawaii. That contest takes place Saturday, Jan. 14 and is scheduled to begin at 5:00 PM HST (7:00 PM PST).