Box Score
Photo Gallery (images by Hailey Archambault)

San Francisco, CA -- It was home heart-breaker for Academy of Art University women's basketball Saturday afternoon as a 3-pointer by UH Hilo's Shannon Rousseau at the end of regulation put the Vulcans over the Urban Knights 60-57. Down 16 points at half, a furious ART U comeback tied things at 57 with under a minute to go, but a turnover with 12 seconds left enabled the visitors to run their final buzzer-beating sequence. Senior Katy Wade posted her fifth double-double of the season (15 points, 16 rebounds) and freshman Regina Camera offered 13 points in addition to tying the single-game program record with eight steals.

“We never should have been in that position after the first half,” head coach LaNay Larson said. “That's a big hole to put yourself in especially at home and that was just far below what our expectations are. We just weren't disciplined on both ends of the court so in the second half we talked about better shot selection, getting more movement on offense, and really getting after it defensively.”

After opening up the game on an 8-0 run, UH Hilo amassed an 11-point lead which soon evaporated thanks to layups by Wade, freshman Jasmin Guinn, and a 3-pointer from Camera. The contest remained close as senior Nicol Biesek hit freshman Zoie Sheng for a layup at 11:13 to make it a three-point game.

For the rest of the half, however, the Vulcans executed an 18-5 push with 10 of those points coming in the final two minutes of the half. At the break, Hilo held a 38-22 advantage and would grow it to 18 multiple times early in the second period.

“[UH Hilo's] tallest player is 5-10 making us a little bit mismatched when we go with a bigger lineup so we tried to stay a little bit smaller tonight,” Coach Larson said. “[UH Hilo] has great guards who are very quick and hard to guard and, in the first half, we just didn't do a good enough job of containing the dribble and dribble penetration. That really hurt us.”

Academy of Art University responded to the situation, however, rattling off nine unanswered points primarily thanks to a spark from freshman Sha'Nice Storey off the bench. Storey knocked down a jumper off the feed from Sheng then was in the thick of ART U's transition game midway through the second.

Though UH Hilo briefly resumed a double-digit lead, the Urban Knights cut it down to make this anyone's game late. Starting with a Wade layup, Academy of Art dropped the lead down from nine (57-48) to 57 all in two and a half minutes. Senior Jordan Rogers put in four free throws and Camera buried a triple during the 9-0 run.

The final 21 seconds were an absolute roller-coaster ride. A miscue on the inbound caused ART U to turn the ball over but Storey forced a critical steal which gave the Knights another opportunity at the game-winning shot. However, UH Hilo managed to get Academy of Art to turn it over themselves and, without a timeout, Kamie Imai found Rousseau in the right corner for a 3-pointer that just beat the final buzzer, giving the Vulcans their 60-57 victory.

The Urban Knights, who are now 12-4 overall and 5-1 in PacWest play, received a career-high 16 rebounds from Wade to match the fourth-highest mark in program history. The senior followed that up with 15 points, two steals, and two blocked shots all in 27 minutes of action.

“Katy took some steps today,” Coach Larson said. “I thought she was more aggressive. I still think she can finish better around the basket, but that was a very physical game and because of her length, she doesn't tend to get a lot of calls so we just need to play through that just establish good position. She's so versatile and did a great job on the boards tonight.”

Camera complemented Wade' production with 13 points and the eight steals to once again tie the single-game program record. Storey matched the record earlier this season versus Western Oregon while Devin London and Ariel Dale each had their turns last year. Storey delivered 11 points and five steals off the bench.

For the Vulcans (8-6 overall, 5-3 PacWest), Rousseau paced the team with 12 points all on a 4-for-4 night from beyond the three-point arc. Kirsty Imai added 10 points and three steals while Jazzmyn Davis produced nine points and six rebounds off the bench.

The Knights' three-game homestand continues this Monday, Jan. 21 with a rematch against Hawaii Pacific on tap. That contest is scheduled to tip off at 5:30 PM back inside Kezar Pavilion. Sign up for the 5:00 PM Fan Bus to see women's and men's games on Monday HERE!

“Today I told [the team], 'That's your Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card,'” Coach Larson said. “We can't afford to drop any more games like that so how we bounce back Monday is going to tell what kind of team we are. If we're a championship team, we'll bounce back the way we should and we're going to prepare for HPU just like any other time. Really the mentality of the girls has to be to really fight back and make a statement on Monday.”