Game #16
ART U Urban Knights (10-5, 7-0 PWC) vs. Holy Names Hawks (7-6, 3-4 PWC)
Tuesday, January 14, 2014 at 5:30 PM
Oakland, CA – Tobin Gymnasium
Live Stats | Live Video

WOMEN'S HOOPS MEETS HOLY NAMES IN OAKLAND
Academy of Art University Women's Basketball has remained undefeated through seven Pacific West Conference games thus far and, fresh off its three-part sweep in Hawaii, the Urban Knights put their streak on the line at Holy Names this Tuesday.

OPENING TIP
In a one-game week following Hawaii, ART U travels to Tobin Gymnasium in Oakland for a 5:30 PM tipoff. Live Stats and Live Video will be available for this game. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHT WATCH
For the second highest scoring team in the PacWest (77.1 points per game), but the leader in scoring margin (+8.3 ppg), Academy of Art is led offensively by Krystal Forthan's 16.8 points per game. Through four games played, Forthan most recently had back-to-back 20+ point efforts and also averages 8.5 rebounds as well as 2.5 steals and 2.5 assists per contest. Molly O'Brien, the 18th-best scorer in the conference at 11.7 ppg, with the fourth-highest field goal percentage (.485), adds 5.1 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. Sha'Nice Storey comes in next at 10.6 points per game with the most 3-pointers made on the squad (24, 13th in PacWest).

Alisa Griggs became the first Urban Knight to score over 900 career points with her 13 at Chaminade most recently and remains a lethal threat inside as the conference's field goal percentage leader (.536). She also averages 6.6 rebounds per game which is 13th in the PacWest. Zoie Sheng, who leads the PacWest in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7), continues to offer the team's highest three-point percentage (.452, 4th in PacWest) complemented by her 10.3 points, 3.0 assists (10th in PacWest), and 1.7 steals per game (9th in PacWest). Ranking fourth in the conference in steals (2.1 spg) and eighth in rebounding (7.8 rpg), Jasmin Guinn has had five 4+ steal efforts and five double-doubles (points, rebounds) to date. She adds 9.5 points and 2.1 assists per game as well.

HAWKS HOT OFFENSIVELY
Hot early with a six-game win streak that led into the start of PacWest play, Holy Names has more recently struggled with four games lost heading into Tuesday's matchup. The Hawks opened the year with an 82-61 win over Pacific Union, but fell to both Cal State Stanislaus (78-77) and San Francisco State (82-69) before the six-game surge. Another win over Pacific Union and two hosting Bethesda (CA) gave HNU momentum as they defeated Point Loma 73-65 in overtime to start December and put away California Baptist 72-69 at home in Oakland. From there Holy Names topped Notre Dame de Namur 78-70 to finish the calendar year then ran into trouble in a rematch at PLNU, falling 87-74. Since that time, the Hawks have suffered losses to Azusa Pacific (76-51), Fresno Pacific (88-82 OT), and NDNU (84-73) in the month of January. Holy Names is the fourth highest scoring team in the PacWest and much of that has to do with their efficiency at the foul line (.732) that is second in the conference. Additionally, HNU carries two of the PacWest's top 10 scorers in Sonia Aguilar (19.2 ppg, 2nd) and Renique Fitzpatrick (13.1 ppg, 10th). Aguilar, a 90 percent foul shooter (1st in PacWest), has led the team offensively in eight of the squad's 13 games while Fitzpatrick had her season-high 34 points at Fresno Pacific on Jan. 8 and currently leads the PacWest in rebounding at 10.1 rpg. Historically, the Knights are 2-2 versus Holy Names with both victories coming last season, highlighted by two 18+ point performances by Griggs.

ART U STAYS PERFECT WITH HAWAII SWEEP
Head coach LaNay Larson improved to 10-0 in Hawaii in her Academy of Art career with the Urban Knights' most recent sweep of three games on the islands. After ART U edged Hawaii Pacific 75-72 on Jan. 4 in a battle of free throws late, the Academy of Art offense erupted like a Hawaiian volcano against BYU-Hawaii and Chaminade. On Jan. 6, the Knights grabbed a 17-point lead eight minutes into the contest and went on to win 101-47 behind Forthan's 20 points. It was the first time ART U had risen above the century mark, but they would do much more than that in their Jan. 8 meeting with Chaminade. Setting new program records for points in a half with 60 in each, Academy of Art put away the Silverswords 120-69 with the new ART U scoring record firmly set. Forthan went for a season-best 24 points while O'Brien chipped in 20 points and four other Knights had at least 12 points apiece.

LOOKING AHEAD
After its seventh consecutive road game, the Urban Knights are finally back in San Francisco, hosting UH Hilo (Jan. 20), Chaminade (Jan. 23), and BYU-Hawaii (Jan. 25) in the week that follows. Fan buses are available for signups NOW!