Game #13
ART U Urban Knights (7-5, 4-0 PWC) vs. Hawaii Pacific Sea Warriors (7-2, 3-0 PWC)
Saturday, January 4, 2014 at 3:00 PM HT (5:00 PM PT)
Honolulu, HI – Neal Blaisdell Center
Live Stats & Live Video

Game #14
ART U Urban Knights (7-5, 4-0 PWC) vs. BYU-Hawaii Seasiders (0-8, 0-3 PWC)
Monday, January 6, 2014 at 5:00 PM HT (7:00 PM PT)
Laie, HI – Cannon Activities Center
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #15
ART U Urban Knights (7-5, 4-0 PWC) vs. Chaminade Silverswords (1-7, 1-1 PWC)
Wednesday, January 8, 2014 at 5:00 PM HT (7:00 PM PT)
Honolulu, HI – McCabe Gym
Live Stats | Live Audio

ART U TO MEET SEA WARRIORS, SEASIDERS, SILVERSWORDS ON OAHU
Anticipating their first competition of the new calendar year and in the past two weeks, Academy of Art University Women's Basketball makes its way to Hawaii for a three-game roadtrip. The Urban Knights, who are currently 4-0 in Pacific West Conference play, are set to face Hawaii Pacific, BYU-Hawaii, and Chaminade over the course of the next week.

OPENING TIP
ART U matches up with Hawaii Pacific to begin the trip on Saturday, Jan. 4 inside the Neal Blaisdell Center. A slightly earlier tipoff has the pairing starting at 3:00 PM HT (5:00 PM PT). Two days later on Jan. 6, Academy of Art takes on BYU-Hawaii on the other side of the island in Laie. The time away from the mainland concludes on Jan. 8 with a game at Chaminade's McCabe Gym. The final two contests, BYUH and CUH, are each scheduled to tip off at 5:00 PM HT (7:00 PM PT). Live Stats, Live Video, and Live Audio (Chaminade only) will be available for all games at the links above. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHT WATCH
With Krystal Forthan getting into the mix in the final game of 2013, Academy of Art now returns to six players averaging double figures in scoring. Forthan offered 12 points in the rematch with California Baptist while Molly O'Brien remains steady as ever with 11.8 points (16th in PacWest), 5.4 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game, shooting .473 from the field (4th in PacWest). Zoie Sheng is one of the team's top three-point shooters (.485, 2nd in PacWest) leading to a 10.6 points per game average complemented by team-highs in both assists (3.6 apg) and steals (2.2 spg) and the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the PacWest (1.6).

At 10.3 points per game, Regina Camera and new program career scoring (869 points) and rebounds (509) leader Alisa Griggs are next in line. Camera leads the squad with 1.5 3-pointers made per game while Griggs sits atop the PacWest in field goal percentage (.522) and ranks 10th in rebounding (7.1 rpg). Sha'Nice Storey adds 10.1 points as well as 1.3 3-pointers made per game and it was against Chaminade last year (Jan. 24, 2013) that she set the program's single-game scoring record (31 points) by draining eight 3-pointers. Currently the conference's top offensive rebounder (3.9 orpg) third-best rebounder (8.4 rpg), 5-6 guard Jasmin Guinn has contributed in a host of categories with 2.4 assists and 2.0 steals in addition to her 9.2 points per game.

WARRIORS STORMING THE SEAS
Vying for the best record in the PacWest with Academy of Art much like last season, Hawaii Pacific is 7-2 overall without a loss in three PacWest contests thus far. HPU edged Oklahoma Christian 71-68 in a later start to the year on Nov. 28 before falling 92-80 to Lubbock Christian. It was a 70-62 win over UH Hilo that got the Sea Warriors rolling in conference play on Dec. 4 followed by two large margins of victory over Chaminade (81-69) and BYU-Hawaii (89-48). A break from PacWest action in late December saw Hawaii Pacific's second loss of the year at Central Washington (72-68) despite a rather impressive night from Morganne Comstock who had 20 points and 17 rebounds. The Sea Warriors would win a rematch with the Wildcats 85-77 on Dec. 17 then return to Hawaii for a nail-biter against Northwest Nazarene. It was a one-point victory, 72-71, in a balanced performance by HPU on Dec. 19 followed by another close 66-63 win over Malone on Dec. 21 to close out the calendar year. For the PacWest's highest scoring team (75.8 ppg) and a squad that leads the conference in field goal (.411), free throw (.738), and three-point (.343) percentages, Skye Savini is the top scoring threat at 16.2 points per game (4th in PacWest). She adds 2.6 assists 1.7 3-pointers made, and 1.4 steals per game to a .496 field goal percentage (3rd in PacWest). The team also boasts three other players, Laken McClelland (10.4 ppg), Comstock (10.3 ppg), Shianne Solomon (10.0 ppg), who are all double-digit scorers. Historically, the Knights are 3-7 against Hawaii Pacific with the most recent meeting a 75-49 victory for ART U to earn them the inaugural PacWest Conference Tournament Championship last year.

EN ROUTE TO THE B-SIDE
Winless in the first eight games of their 2013-14 campaign, the BYU-Hawaii Seasiders are also yet to have a losing margin less than 16 points. After sustaining a 69-39 loss to Alaska Fairbanks in the Nov. 15 season opener, BYU-Hawaii dropped a pair to Alaska Anchorage (99-52, 100-49) then fell to both Lubbock Chrisitan (75-48) and Gannon (80-49) in the Oahu Classic. Exclusively playing Hawaii schools in their first three PacWest contests, BYUH was topped twice by UH Hilo (80-53, 66-50) and once by the aforementioned Hawaii Pacific (89-48). BYU-Hawaii does carry one of the conference's Top 10 scorers in Danna Lynn Hooper (14.5 ppg, 9th in PacWest) who tossed in four 3-pointers en route to her game-high 21 points against the Urban Knights in their last matchup, the first round of the PacWest Championship Tournament (Mar. 7, 2013). Complementing Hooper this season has been Brydgette Tatupu-Leopoldo who averages 8.5 points per game, but scored 17 points while grabbing six rebounds in her only conference contest. With two victories over the Seasiders last season, ART U now holds a 7-2 advantage all time versus BYUH.

HANDLING THE SWORDS
Starting the year by hosting both Alaska teams, Chaminade fell 76-60 to Alaska Fairbanks on Nov. 17 and 93-57 Alaska Anchorage before heading to the Oahu Classic at the end of November. The Silverswords were dealt two 30+ point losses by Gannon (88-55) and Oklahoma Christian (95-59), but bounced back from a 0-4 start with an overtime victory over UH Hilo on Dec. 2. Led by Lilia Maio's 19 points, CUH scored four unanswered points in the final minute of overtime to eventually prevail 73-69. Three more defeats followed with Hawaii Pacific (81-69), Northwest Nazarene (96-53), and Malone (92-58) each winning in dominating fashion to finish up the December action. Chaminade has Dixie State (Jan. 4) and Dominican (Jan. 6) on tap prior to facing the Knights on Jan. 8. Maio is the Silverswords' top offensive scoring threat at 10.1 points per game while Kennedi Akana chips in 9.4 points and 1.7 blocks per game (4th in PacWest). Though averaging nearly two points fewer per contest (7.8 ppg), Glacen Florita is the only player in the PacWest (among qualified leaders) perfect from the free throw line, having made all 26 of her attempts thus far. Last season, two dominant performances in which Chaminade was not allowed more than 49 points helped ART U rise to a perfect 9-0 versus the Silverswords all time.

KNIGHTS HOLD ON TO EDGE LANCERS 82-81
In their last action of 2013, the Urban Knights managed an 82-81 victory over California Baptist on Dec. 21 though ART U had held a 21-point lead earlier in the afternoon. Five Urban Knights scored in double figures led by O'Brien's 15 points, but it was free throws in the waning seconds by Sheng and Storey that preserved the win after a late 19-6 comeback by the Lancers.

LOOKING AHEAD
When ART U returns to the Bay Area next week, the Knights find themselves with one more road contest (at Holy Names on Jan. 14) before taking their turn hosting the Hawaii schools with UH Hilo (Jan. 20), Chaminade (Jan. 23), and BYU-Hawaii (Jan. 25) coming to Kezar Pavilion.