Game #20
ART U Urban Knights (13-6, 10-1 PWC) vs. Dixie State Red Storm (8-9, 6-5 PWC)
Thursday, January 31, 2014 at 5:00 PM MT (4:00 PM PT)
St. George, UT – Burns Arena
Live Stats | Live Video & Live Audio

Game #21
ART U Urban Knights (13-6, 10-1 PWC) vs. Point Loma Sealions (8-8, 6-6 PWC)
Saturday, February 1, 2014 at 2:00 PM
San Diego, CA – Golden Gymnasium
Live Stats | Live Video

ART U HEADS TO UTAH, SAN DIEGO FOR PAIR OF PACWEST GAMES
Academy of Art University Women's Basketball rides a three-game win streak into two road contests this week at Dixie State on Thursday then at Point Loma on Saturday. It will be the first meeting of the Urban Knights and Red Storm this season and a rematch with the Sea Lions whom ART U played to start its Pacific West Conference schedule.

OPENING TIP
On Thursday, Jan. 31, the Urban Knights take on Dixie State inside the Red Storm's Burns Arena in St. George, UT. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:00 PM MT (4:00 PM PT). It will be a quick return trip to California thereafter as ART U heads to San Diego where they will face Point Loma on Saturday, Feb. 1. Tipoff inside PLNU's Golden Gym is scheduled for 2:00 PM. Live coverage 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
Leading the conference with the fewest turnovers committed per game (14.6) and ranked second in scoring (76.9 points per game), the Urban Knights have pushed their scoring margin up to +8.8 ppg in their most recent homestand. Krystal Forthan, who has now played in eight games for ART U to date, averages 19.5 points along with 11.0 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, 2.1 steals, and 1.8 assists per game. She has posted double-doubles in her past four games and has led the team in both points and rebounds in five of their last six.

Molly O'Brien adds 10.8 points per game with the highest field goal percentage of any guard on the team (.483) and 5.0 rebounds per contest. Zoie Sheng is just behind her teammate with a 10.7 ppg average to go with 2.8 assists per game, putting both among the PacWest's Top 20 scorers. Sha'Nice Storey follows at 10.2 ppg with the most 3-pointers made on the team (28). She remains six behind career triples leader Jordan Rogers (85). Right in line with Storey is Regina Camera who has knocked down 27 shots from long range en route to her 9.5 ppg. Jasmin Guinn had her sixth double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds) of the season last week against Chaminade and comes into these road pairings averaging 9.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while ranking third in the PacWest in offensive rebounds (3.3 rpg) and sixth in steals per game (2.2 spg).

STORM BREWING
Averaging about four points per game less than the Urban Knights, Dixie State brings an 8-9 overall record into Thursday's contest. After weathering some early struggles with just two wins in their first eight games, the Red Storm broke out for a four-game win streak that included an 88-78 win over Western Oregon followed by a sweep in Hawaii with UH Hilo (67-63), Chaminade (93-69), and Hawaii Pacific (88-84) all falling to Dixie. More recently, DSU dropped a 72-56 result to Azusa Pacific (Jan. 11), bounced back by beating Fresno Pacific 75-62 (Jan. 13), but fell to California Baptist 79-62 (Jan. 18) and the Cougars once again 74-69 (Jan. 20). Dixie finished off its California roadtrip with a 70-67 win over Point Loma on Jan. 25 and will now be home for its next six games. The Red Storm carry one of the top scorers in the country in Hailey Holmstead who is putting up 21.6 points per game (leads PacWest and is 15th in NCAA DII). She makes 6.0 free throws per game and shoots just over 45 percent from the field. Kaylah Miller adds 13.1 ppg and Brianna White delivers 9.6 ppg. In the only meeting of these two teams last season, Dixie State barely edged ART U 53-52 after a last-second chance by the Knights did not fall. The loss made Academy of Art 1-6 historically against the Red Storm.

SHIFTING SEAS IN SAN DIEGO
Since the 67-59 loss ART U dealt Point Loma back at the start of PacWest play on Dec. 3, PLNU has played two drastically different halves of its conference season. The first portion saw the Sea Lions bounce back to win four in a row including a 73-67 triumph over Dixie State on Dec. 14 and a revenge win over Holy Names 87-74 on Jan. 2. However, Point Loma then lost four of its next six as a rough Hawaii roadtrip bore only the fruit of a 69-58 win over BYU-Hawaii (Jan. 10). Perhaps one of the biggest moments of PLNU's year to date was a 69-61 victory over Azusa Pacific on Jan. 17 (a balanced scoring attack and strong second half did the trick), but two losses followed as California Baptist prevailed 72-60 on Jan. 20 and Dixie State came through for a 70-67 win on Jan. 25. The Sea Lions are slated to play Dominican on Jan. 30 prior to their Feb. 1 matchup with Academy of Art. Callie Rhoads, who had 12 points in the previous matchup with the Knights, leads the team averaging 14.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game with 40 3-pointers made in 16 games. She is supported by Jessica Escorza's 13.2 ppg. ART U's win back in December gave them a 2-0 historic lead over PLNU.

WOMEN'S HOOPS DEFENDS HOMECOURT IN 3-0 WEEK
Returning from Hawaii but still facing PacWest Hawaii opponents, ART U Women's Basketball handled its business at home with three wins all in the same week. After amassing a 10-point lead thanks to a 12-0 run midway through the first half, the Urban Knights rolled to a 74-64 victory against UH Hilo on Monday, Jan. 20, not allowing the Vulcans closer than seven points despite their comeback attempt.

On Thursday, Jan. 23, Women's Basketball used a strong second half to pull away from Chaminade en route to an 82-52 win. The Knights outscored the Silverswords 43-22 in the second period while pulling down the third-most rebounds in program history (67). Finally, locked in a battle after one half of play inside Kezar Pavilion on Saturday, Jan. 25, ART U rode a 10-0 second half run to seal a 79-70 victory against BYU-Hawaii while forcing a season-best 33 turnovers with 27 points off those Seasider miscues.

LOOKING AHEAD
When ART U returns home to the Bay Area this Sunday, they will begin preparation for another homestand with Notre Dame de Namur (Feb. 8) and Holy Names (Feb. 13) coming to Kezar Pavilion next.