2012-13 Women's Basketball Schedule

San Francisco, CA -- One year removed from the most successful season in program history, Academy of Art University women's basketball is poised to come back for more this November. Head coach LaNay Larson has officially announced the Urban Knights' 2012-13 schedule which features four distinct non-conference tournaments, a full slate of Pacific West Conference matches with several new opponents, and the possibility of postseason play following a new PacWest Championship Tournament in March.

“One thing we focused on this year was scheduling a good mixture of teams from both the GNAC [Great Northwest Athletic Conference] and CCAA [California Collegiate Athletic Association] conferences,” Coach Larson said. “The schedule is very challenging and we wanted it that way to give us the maximum amount of NCAA Division II games while increasing our strength of schedule.”

Much like the 2011-12 campaign, ART U will look to start strong against another Division I program in 2012-13. The Knights open their season with an exhibition game on Nov. 2 at Sacramento State, who comes off a year where the Hornets improved by a nine-win margin.

Academy of Art University then mirror its steps from last year by officially opening in the 2012 CCAA/PacWest Challenge where ART U will play Humboldt State (Nov. 9) and host Cal State East Bay (Nov. 10). Both the Jacks and Pioneers finished last season in the CCAA's top seven with HSU claiming a tie for second with Cal Poly Pomona.

“We are playing a number of teams that are traditional postseason contenders and will be a great measuring stick to see where we are in the first part of the season,” Coach Larson said. “The CCAA/PacWest Challenge is a great tournament to open up with; both Humboldt State and Cal State East Bay are coming off successful seasons and will be a tough test to start.”

The first ART U home games follow in mid-November with University of Alaska Fairbanks (Nov. 16) and University of Nebraska at Kearney (Nov. 18) coming to Kezar Pavilion. After those contests, Academy of Art University travels to Idaho for the Hampton Inn Classic (Nov. 23-24) hosted by Northwest Nazarene over the Thanksgiving holiday. To start, the Knights play host NNU, the third-best team in the GNAC a year ago, then Central Washington is up next.

“Our Thanksgiving tournament at Northwest Nazarene will be a good chance for us to play against two quality GNAC opponents on the road,” Coach Larson said.

ART U starts PacWest play much earlier than the previous year with a game at Bay Area rival Notre Dame de Namur on Dec. 1. The Knights had the Argos number last year, earning two victories with the second by a 33-point margin. After that matchup, ART U will continue its non-conference season with a short trip to Cal State Monterey Bay on Dec. 5. The Otters, who topped Academy of Art University to start a 2011-12 campaign in which they won 21 games, swept through their second consecutive CCAA Tournament, and fell just short in the NCAA West Regionals.

“Going to Cal St Monterey Bay is always challenging,” Coach Larson said. “We are playing a team that has competed in the NCAA tournament the past two seasons and had a lot of success.”

As the Knights bounce back between non-conference and PacWest play, they host Holy Names (Dec. 8) and Western Oregon (Dec. 13) before the final tournament, Dixie State's Las Vegas Challenge (Dec. 18-19). At the impressive Orleans Arena, Academy of Art University will meet an accomplished Pittsburg State team, whom ART U defeated back in 2009, and one opponent it has never faced before in University of Central Missouri. Both schools hail from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) and both reached the South Central Regional last year after having won at least 20 games apiece last year.

“Ending the semester at the Dixie State Holiday Tournament in Vegas will give us a chance to compete in a big time venue at the Orleans Arena while going up against two teams that were nationally ranked, one being Pittsburg State who advanced all the way to the Elite Eight last season,” Coach Larson said.

Similarly to their previous season, the Urban Knights start up the new calendar year with a trip to Hawaii. At Hawaii Pacific (Jan. 5) to start, ART U then faces BYU-Hawaii (Jan. 7) and Chaminade (Jan. 9) on a trip slightly shorter than the 2011-12 road swing, but one still equally critical for the race to the top of the PacWest. Many will recall the 4-0 Hawaii trip as the Knights' springboard to success a year ago.

At home for three games after returning from the islands, Academy of Art University will continue its play against Hawaiian schools with UH Hilo (Jan. 19), HPU (Jan. 21), and Chaminade (Jan. 26) all in town for some Bay Area rematches.

“I think last year we surprised some people and, with that being said, it isn't going to happen again,” Coach Larson said. “With some of the success we had last year and the expansion, it is going to make this year's conference schedule even harder. California Baptist proved last year that those schools transitioning in are ready to compete for championships right away and I expect nothing less from the other California schools that we have added.”

In late January and early February, ART U will head out on an important roadtrip where the Knights face three of the four schools who were essentially taking turns dominating the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) in the late 2000s. Beginning with Point Loma on Jan. 31, Academy of Art University runs the gauntlet with California Baptist to follow on Feb. 2 and Azusa Pacific, who reached the NAIA Tournament Quarterfinals, on Feb. 4. With PLNU and the Cougars finishing up in the GSAC last year, the tandem combined with CBU for 45 wins in 2011-12.

The majority of February will be composed of a five-game homestand in which the Urban Knights start by hosting Dixie State (Feb. 9), Coach Larson's previous institution, and Grand Canyon (Feb. 14), last year's PacWest Champion, whom ART U defeated in dramatic fashion on the Knights' final roadtrip. On Feb. 16, new conference member Fresno Pacific comes to the Bay Area before Dominican (Feb. 19) and Notre Dame de Namur (Feb. 23) finish up the stretch at home.

“I think the conference has gotten tougher each year and I expect this season to be a battle from top to bottom,” Coach Larson said. “We have to be prepared and focused each and every game. We can't afford to take a night off. Last year, we made some strides with some big ones, but this year is all about finishing and taking that next step.”

Academy of Art University stays local for its final two regular season games which will be at Holy Names (Feb. 26) and at Dominican (Mar. 2) to finish off play within its “Bay Area pod.” Mar. 7-9 then features the first PacWest Championship Tournament in conference history which will be hosted by Azusa Pacific and determines the NCAA Tournament qualifier. The top six post-season eligible teams will qualify for the PacWest Championship Tournament, with the winner getting an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

What does the coming season hold for ART U Women's Basketball? Fans will have a chance to find out as the 2012-13 Urban Knights make their debut this November. Driven by the real possibility of a PacWest Championship and qualification for the NCAA Tournament, this Academy of Art University squad plans to settle for nothing less.


“I was ecstatic when we got the news about being full-fledged NCAA DII members,” Coach Larson said. “The fact that our kids have postseason goals to play for always is added motivation and something they have been looking forward to. Our goals and expectations have been set high and I'm excited to see what this team can accomplish.”