Box Score

Photo Gallery (images by Hailey Archambault, Meg Williams, Bob Toy, & Rob Garcia)

San Francisco, CA -- Known for its defense all season, Academy of Art University women's basketball did something no ART U team has ever done before on Saturday afternoon. The Urban Knights demolished the previous program steals record en route to a 94-89 victory over Holy Names in a Pacific West Conference matchup touted as the Game of the Week inside Kezar Pavilion. ART U had four players register at least four steals apiece for the new record of 27. Junior Alisa Griggs led the way with an efficient 21 points and five rebounds.

“We've really stressed getting after it this year,” head coach LaNay Larson said. “The 27 steals were great. I would have liked to have played better defense in the half court, but that's definitely something we'll key in on this week in practice.”

Though the Hawks started with a 5-0 lead, the Urban Knight defense was working hard as steals by freshman Zoie Sheng and senior Jordan Rogers helped give ART U more than twice the number of field goal attempts as their opponent early. Freshman Jasmin Guinn proceeded to get Academy of Art on the scoreboard and soon a 7-2 burst had tied the game.

A layup by Ariel Dale followed quickly by freshman Sha'Nice Storey's 3-pointer gave the Knights their first lead of the afternoon, 12-11, and soon they were off and running. Over the course of a two-minute span, ART U went from down three to up seven by way of a 14-4 push in which Dale seemed to do a little of everything, providing tough defense, rebounding the basketball, involving her teammates, and scoring herself.

Academy of Art maintained that lead for a portion midway through, but a triple by HNU's Britney Potestio began a 9-2 Hawks run to retake the lead, 35-34, at 8:20. The ART U response came from a determined effort by Griggs, who played her most minutes of the season Saturday. She scored eight points steadily over a three-minute span to keep her team in front.

While HNU briefly took a one-point lead in the final part of the half, the Urban Knights closed out period one with a 9-4 burst that saw six fast-break points via layups by freshman Regina Camera and sophomore Madeline Martin. Free throws by Rogers with seconds left gave Academy of Art a 51-57 advantage heading into halftime and capping the third-highest point total for a half by ART U this season.


“We have a really deep team and a lot of quick guards that come off the bench so that helps with being able to keep our pace the entire game,” Rogers said. “We're a lot deeper than most teams so we can just pressure [our opponent] and keep running. That's what we're good at.”

A change in the starting lineup to start the second period immediately bore fruit as Sheng found Griggs for a layup inside on the Knights' first possession. The ART U bench production, which was simply remarkable Saturday, continued as Storey relieved Camera and promptly knocked down a 3-pointer. Both baskets were part of what would become a 16-3 multi-half run capped by another Griggs layup.

The Academy of Art margin reached double digits only briefly however, as Holy Names rallied back with an 11-0 push that came almost exclusively from Sonia Aguilar who would finish with the game-high 33 points. Now within one point, the Hawks saw Rogers convert a layup off a pass by senior Juliua Fraser, but the visitors' hot shooting continued as a three-ball by Potestio put them up 72-71 with just under 10 minutes left.

That ended up being the final lead for Holy Names because two quick fast-break layups by Storey and Rogers put ART U back ahead. Sheng would then get her squad two crucial possessions with one leading to a Griggs three-point play and the other putting Sheng at the foul line where she tossed in a pair to finish off the 13-0 run by the Knights.

After the lead dipped down to single digits for a spell, layups by Griggs and Storey put Academy of Art up 11 once again as the four-minute mark hit. HNU's Renique Fitzpatrick would soon get to the foul line and convert a layup before Aguilar knocked down a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left to bring the Hawks to within three, 92-89. While Holy Names gained a critical possession thereafter, ART U forced their opponent's 37th turnover and got two free throws from Rogers to finish off the 94-89 victory.

“Free throws down the stretch are very important and that's something we need to work on as a team,” Rogers said. “I know my team looks to me for free throws because that's something I'm good at so making those is really important for me.”

For an ART U squad that had 33 points off turnovers and 58 points in the paint, Griggs' 21 points were complemented by five rebounds and three steals while Rogers added 18 points (8-of-9 from free throw line), nine rebounds, five assists, and five steals. Griggs along with Dale (12 points, eight assists, six rebounds, three steals) and Storey (19 points, two blocks, two steals) led the Urban Knights' charge that featured approximately one-third of its points off the bench.

“We're a lot deeper this year and we've got a great bench,” Coach Larson said. “We've changed up our starting lineup numerous times so it doesn't matter who starts or who comes off the bench; we've always had great production from both. The balance has been the key offensively for us this year.”

The freshman trio of Camera, Sheng, and Guinn were defensive monsters, combining for 13 steals in total. Camera finished with nine points, five rebounds, and four steals. Sheng contributed five steals and four assists while Guinn posted five points and four steals. The Knights' 27 steals on Saturday were eight more than the previous record of 19 set against Notre Dame de Namur in last year's season finale. Academy of Art improves to 7-2 overall and remains an undefeated 2-0 in PacWest play.

Offensively, the Hawks were led by Aguilar's 33 points (14-of-19 from the floor and 4-of-6 from long range) and six rebounds despite seven turnovers.  Fitzpatrick added 16 points primarily at the foul line where she was 8-of-12. Finally, Potestio and Jasmine Grant combined for 27 points, but also had 18 turnovers as well. Holy Names falls to 2-3 overall, 1-1 in conference play.

ART U may now be done with PacWest play this month, but they will still host one more opponent, Western Oregon, prior to finishing December on the road. The Wolves come to Kezar Pavilion this Thursday, Dec. 13 for a 12:00 PM matchup. Sign up for the FAN BUS!