Box Score

San Francisco, CA -- In their first Pacific West Conference contest of the 2013-14 season, ART U Women's Basketball defeated Point Loma 67-59 with a balanced offensive attack. The Urban Knights built a 43-32 lead at halftime and fended off a comeback attempt by the Sea Lions in the second period thanks to five players scoring in double figures. Jasmin Guinn offered 13 points, the trio of Zoie Sheng, Molly O'Brien, and Sha'Nice Storey each added 11, and Regina Camera finished with 10 points in the victory.

An 8-8 ballgame after the first two minutes, the Urban Knights saw their first mini-surge when Guinn went coast-to-coast for a three-point play and Camera added a fastbreak layup. Despite a response from the Sea Lions to cut the ART U lead to one, Academy of Art's decisive run followed with a 17-2 burst that finished with 11 points unanswered.

A layup by D'Andree Galipeau got things started and soon back-to-back triples from Sheng had the Knights rolling. The various contributions along the way came in the form of a layup by Guinn, a jumper from Storey, and finally Guinn's layup off an Alisa Griggs steal made it 30-14 with 8:30 left in the first half. PLNU answered back with an 8-0 run of its own, but a key 3-pointer by Camera and later the one-two punch of O'Brien and Madeline Martin kept the margin in double figures the rest of the way.

Just before the halftime buzzer, Point Loma's Savannah Erskine tossed in a triple of her own to make it a 43-32 ART U advantage at the break. It was a four and a half minute scoring drought for Academy of Art to start the second period, butt PLNU was not able to get closer than six points during that stretch. As Guinn's free throws and layups by Galipeau as well as back-to-back buckets by O'Brien breathed life into the Knights, the Sea Lions threatened with the long ball.

Callie Rhoads knocked down two triples for PLNU and Jessica Escorza added another to help the visitors come within four points on multiple occasions midway through the second half. However, that was as close as they would come because a 53-49 contest rather quickly turned into 67-51 after a 14-2 surge highlighted by consecutive 3-pointers by Storey and solidified by a three-point play from O'Brien.

PLNU finished the game by scoring eight unanswered points, but time ran out on their comeback and the end result was a 67-59 victory for Academy of Art, the Knights' first PacWest win of 2013-14.

Improving ART U's overall record to 3-4 and breaking a four-game losing streak in the process, the win reflected a team that coming into the evening had six players averaging double figures offensively. Guinn led the way on this occasion with 13 points and seven rebounds while O'Brien's 11 points were complemented by seven rebounds as well. Sheng added 11 points (3-of-4 3PT) and four assists while fellow St. Mary's Academy product Storey had 11 points and three steals by the game's end. Griggs had her second double-digit rebound effort of the year with 12 rebounds to go with three steals.

For a Point Loma squad that is now 3-3 overall this season, Erskine had the game-high of 18 points, six assists, and five steals. The team's leading scorer coming in, Escorza, had 13 points and four assists.

It will be a short break for the Urban Knights who now turn their attention to a very different California Baptist team than the one they've seen the past two years. ART U hosts CBU, who said farewell to nine seniors last season, this Thursday, Dec. 5 at 5:30 PM back at Kezar Pavilion.