Game #22
ART U Urban Knights (14-8, 7-5 PWC) vs. #13 Grand Canyon Antelopes (20-4, 12-1 PWC)
Friday, February 14, 2013 at 5:30 PM
San Mateo, CA – College of San Mateo
Live Stats | Live Audio | Directions

Game #22
ART U Urban Knights (14-8, 7-5 PWC) vs. Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (4-17, 4-10 PWC)
Saturday, February 16, 2013 at 1:00 PM
Hayward, CA – Cal State East Bay's Pioneer Gym
Live Stats | Live Audio | Directions

Game #22
ART U Urban Knights (14-8, 7-5 PWC) vs. Dominican Penguins (5-17, 4-10 PWC)
Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 5:30 PM
San Francisco, CA – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats | Live Audio

'LOPES, SUNBIRDS, PENGUINS COME TO TOWN IN KNIGHTS' HOME STRETCH
Locked in a battle for the upper tier of the Pacific West Conference standings, Academy of Art University meets likely its toughest foe yet this week when #13 Grand Canyon comes to town this week. Something must give as Thursday features the meeting of the PacWest's top offensive team (Academy of Art) and defensive team (Grand Canyon). The Urban Knights then host Fresno Pacific this Saturday and Dominican next Tuesday for Dunk Cancer.

OPENING TIP
Playing host to #13 Grand Canyon this Thursday, Feb. 14, the Urban Knights will be in action at College of San Mateo instead of their usual Kezar Pavilion with tipoff still at 5:30 PM. Two days later, Saturday, Feb. 16, ART U hosts Fresno Pacific at in a home event taking place at Cal State East Bay's Pioneer Gym and tipping off at 1:00 PM. Directions can be to the gym can be found at the links above or here: College of San Mateo & Cal State East Bay.

It is a short turnaround with Dominican coming to play at Kezar Pavilion on Tuesday, Feb. 19 in a special Dunk Cancer night. Fan Bus signups for the Dunk Cancer game can be found HERE. Live Stats and Live Audio will be available for all games. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: DOMINANT DEFENSE
At a difference of 9.36 turnovers per game, Academy of Art University sits atop all of NCAA Division II in turnover margin. Thus far, the Knights have forced 570 turnovers while only committing 364 themselves. ART U is also #4 in the country in steals per game average (15.2 spg) and is currently 11th in scoring average (76.0 ppg). Adding to their top marks, Academy of Art is averaging 16.9 assists per game (14th in NCAA DII), 4.7 blocks per game (27th in NCAA DII), and a 1.02 assist-to-turnover ratio (25th in NCAA DII).

KNIGHT WATCH
A truly democratic team both offensively and defensively, Academy of Art still has four of its players averaging double figures in points per game. Senior Jordan Rogers, the PacWest's 10th leading scorer at 13.3 ppg, has gotten over a third of her points at the foul line where she is shooting 80.0 %. She also received the team's most recent PacWest Weekly Fantastic 15 honor following their SoCal roadtrip. Senior Katy Wade, one of the nation's top shot blockers (now up to 14th in NCAA DII) has continued to build on the program's new single-season blocks record (54) and currently averages 2.45 blocks as well as 9.9 rebounds per game after grabbing the second-most rebounds in single-game program history against Dixie State. Sporting a PacWest-leading 3.2 steals per game, senior Ariel Dale (11.4 ppg) has led by example for the dominant ART U defense this season. Freshman Sha'Nice Storey (11.4 ppg), and freshman Regina Camera (10.4 ppg) are the other two Knights consistently scoring in double figures.

A GRAND CHALLENGE
After finishing last season by winning six of their last seven games, a PacWest Conference Championship, and getting as far as the NCAA West Region Semifinals, #13 Grand Canyon has been on a similar mission this year. The team has lost just four games thus far and brings a nine-game win streak into Thursday's matchup. GCU went 5-2 in non-conference play with one of its losses coming Ashland (#1 in NCAA DII at the time) and has carried that dominance into PacWest play with the Antelopes' only loss coming to California Baptist 55-53 on Jan. 2. They needed double overtime to defeat Dixie State 73-71 on Jan. 10, but have since defeated their next seven opponents each by a minimum of 10 points and Notre Dame de Namur most recently 73-28. Much like Academy of Art, Grand Canyon has used stifling defense in the form of just 54.1 points allowed per game (1st in PWC, 24th in NCAA DII). is led by Judy Jones, a four-time PacWest Player of the Week thus far, with her 16.3 points (4th in PWC), 10.3 rebounds (3rd in PWC), and 2.8 steals (3rd in PWC) per game. For all that GCU has accomplished these past two seasons, the Urban Knights knocked off the 'Lopes last year 72-69 on Grand Canyon's home court when they were ranked #16. It was now the first ART U victory of GCU in six historical meetings.

ONE SUNBIRD ON FIRE
The 2013 season had a rough beginning for Fresno Pacific as the Sunbirds dropped 14 games before their first victory, a 60-52 win over BYU-Hawaii, came on Jan. 21. In FPU's season opener, the Sunbirds fell 80-67 to Northwest Nazarene despite a 40-point performance from the team's leading scorer Keairra White (18.8 points per game, 2nd in PWC & would be 18th in NCAA DII were Fresno Pacific full-fledged members). White delivered 23 points in the first win and scored 30 points as recently as Feb. 2 though the team lost 79-74 to Holy Names. FPU has lost three consecutive games following a four-game win streak and finds itself in the lower tier of the PacWest standings. Saturday will be the first ever meeting between the Urban Knights and Sunbirds.

DOMINICAN BLOCK PARTY
After starting the season 1-2 following a 93-91 victory over Cal State Stanislaus, the Penguins had some brief losing streaks, but had never lost more than four consecutive games until recently. Thus far in PacWest play, Dominican has defeated Notre Dame de Namur (70-66), UH Hilo (57-55), and Chaminade twice (95-69, 70-54). Their recent stretch has been the most difficult, however, as the Penguins have lost seven straight including a 70-68 overtime rematch with NDNU. No Penguin is averaging double figures offensively, but leading-scorer Sarah Nelson (9.3 ppg) ranks 5th in the country in blocks (2.86 bpg). Dominican will also face #13 Grand Canyon before playing the Urban Knights with that game coming on Feb. 16. To date, ART U has dominated the Penguins with a 7-0 history capped by last year's 90-46 win that featured 82 rebounds by the Knights (a new program record) and a 77-69 victory.

DIXIE DEALS KNIGHTS 53-52 DEFEAT
For the second consecutive game, ART U Women's Basketball was forced to take a one-point loss as Dixie State bested the Urban Knights 53-52 Saturday evening inside Kezar Pavilion. The Red Storm pushed ahead in the second half, but Academy of Art kept it close and had another chance at the game-winner down by one with three seconds to go and the ball. It was not to be on this occasion, however as the Knights were unable to get a shot off and Dixie prevailed. Freshman Regina Camera had a team-high 13 points while senior Katy Wade grabbed the second-most rebounds in the program's single-game history.

LOOKING AHEAD
Just one more home game is left on the schedule following the Tuesday matchup with Dominican which means this year's Senior Day will take place Saturday, Feb. 23 at 12:00 PM. This event will also feature Academy of Art University's annual Battle of the Halls competition and a special ceremony honoring the program's first All-American Jenny Bergren.