2013-14 All-Pacific West Conference Women's Basketball Team

Newport Beach, CA – Following the first Pacific West Conference regular season championship in program history, Academy of Art University Women's Basketball secured a grand total of nine PacWest postseason honors in the announcement of the 2013-14 All-PacWest Teams Thursday morning. Head coach LaNay Larson garnered her first PacWest Coach of the Year and Krystal Forthan was named both PacWest Player of the Year as well as PacWest Newcomer of the Year in addition to taking a spot on the All-PacWest First Team. Jasmin Guinn earned the title of PacWest Defensive Player of the Year and joined Regina Camera and Sha'Nice Storey on the All-PacWest Third Team while Zoie Sheng made All-PacWest Second Team.

"I'm so proud of this team," Coach Larson said. "These postseason awards show that the coaches in this conference respect what they did this season and the whole body of work that goes into winning a conference championship."

This year, the PacWest coaches or designated representatives from each school selected 28 student-athletes for All-Conference accolades. The squad consisted of a First Team, Second Team, Third Team, and honorable mention featuring seven players on each listing. Additionally, individual awards were given to a Player, Freshman, Newcomer, Defender, and Coach of the Year.

In each of Larson's three seasons with the program, the Urban Knights have improved, ultimately delivering a conference-best 18-2 PacWest record this season as their encore to last year's tournament title. ART U won 11 consecutive PacWest games from Jan. 20 to Feb. 24, making women's basketball owners of the longest winning streak in the history of the Academy of Art University Athletics department.

Beyond the victories, Larson and her staff guided the program into the country's NCAA Division II statistical leaders as well. For the second consecutive season, ART U is among the best teams in terms of turnover margin, ranking seventh overall with a positive +6.25 mark. Additionally, the Urban Knights are 16th in scoring offense (79.4 points per game), 22nd in steals per game (11.0), 27th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.08), 35th in scoring margin (+9.5), and 36th in assists per game (15.8).

Forthan was an absolute force for Academy of Art this season. She scored 20+ points on eight occasions and currently rides a streak of 13 consecutive games with a double-double. Twice PacWest Player of the Week (Jan. 13, Feb. 3) and once Defensive Player of the Week, Forthan appeared among the weekly honors a total of five times in 2013-14.Her highlight performance thus far was a stat sheet-stuffing effort against Dixie State on Feb. 22 where she scored 22 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, dished out six assists, and blocked a new program record seven shots.

"Becoming Player of the Year is a great accomplishment!" Forthan said. "This means the world to me. To finally check off one of my personal goals is an incredible feeling. The Urban Knights have helped make me better person and player through every game and practice. I thank them for that."

In her debut season with Academy of Art, Forthan led the PacWest in rebounding (12.1 rebounds per game) while averaged 18.6 points (3rd in PacWest), 2.4 blocks (2nd in PacWest), 1.9 steals (7th in PacWest), and 2.2 assists per game. She is currently 13th in the country in total double-doubles (14) despite playing nearly half the number of games as virtually every name around hers on the list. With games still left to play, Forthan has already cracked the program's single-season top 10 lists in blocks (41, 2nd), rebounds (205, 5th), and points (317, 8th).

"Krystal had a great year and even better things are to come for her," Coach Larson said. "I'm proud of her for what she has done on and off the court for Academy of Art."

A big reason why ART U has been so successful in the turnover margin category over the past two years, Guinn has continued to let her defense fuel her offense this season. In her first game of 2013-14, Guinn registered seven steals versus Saint Martin's and received PacWest Player of the Week honors for her effort. Currently riding a streak of 11 straight games with at least one theft, she ranks fifth in the PacWest in steals per game (2.2 spg).

In addition to being Defensive Player of the Year, Guinn's rebounding prowess surely helped secured her a spot on the Third Team. Despite standing 5-6, she actually has more rebounds (207) than the 6-4 Forthan to date (205). Second in the PacWest in offensive rebounds per game (3.6 orpg), Guinn has seven times gone for 6+ offensive rebounds and has nine double-doubles in total.

"For me, it's such a great accomplishment to be recognized for my defense because that has been a main focus for me this year," Guinn said. "I take pride in my defense and really try to solidify the defense for the team so it really helps that my team has my back. Our defense is the foundation for our success and I truly appreciate how my hard work has been recognized."

One of her best games of the season came against Holy Names when she scored a season-high 17 points, grabbed 12 rebounds (including a career-best nine on the offensive glass), and dealt out five assists. The program's all-time rebounds leader among guards is averaging 9.1 points, 7.7 rebounds (12th in PacWest), 2.4 assists, and 2.2 steals per game.

"Jas being named Defensive Player of the Year is a testament to her hard work that is always appreciated by her coaching staff and team, but might go unnoticed in a box score," Coach Larson said.

Sheng, the only Urban Knight to start all 28 games during the regular season, has served a vital role as the team's point guard. After a breakout performance scoring a career-high 22 points with eight assists, no turnovers, and four steals against Humboldt State en route to PacWest/CCAA Challenge All-Tournament Team honors and a PacWest Player of the Week award, Sheng has been extremely efficient orchestrating the offense. Contributing one of the best assist-to-turnover ratios for a squad with five players regularly scoring in double figures, the sophomore naturally sees the greatest amount of time on the floor (28.3 minutes per game).

The lone Urban Knight on this year's All-PacWest Second Team is also three free throws away from setting ART U's new single-season record for free throws made after having converted 11 in a game on three separate occasions in 2013.14.

Sheng carries the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the PacWest (1.9) while putting up 10.8 points, 3.25 assists (7th in PacWest), and 1.6 steals per game along with the best three-point percentage on the team (.355). This is also her second consecutive season with at least 90 assists.

Currently second on the team in scoring, Camera has continued to show her all-around game on the floor this year. The sophomore from Stockton, CA has been a threat to score (11.2 ppg), rebound (4.4 rpg), pass (2.6 assists per game), and defend (1.3 steals per game).

One of Camera's highlight performances came on Feb. 13 against Holy Names when she registered 15 points with six rebounds, six assists, and four steals. She ranks 16th in the PacWest in assists and 25th in the scoring, offering five 18+ point scoring outputs and 15 5+ rebound games this year. Camera was also part of this year's Preseason All-PacWest Team.


Rounding out ART U's sophomore starting lineup, Storey this season became the program's career record holder for 3-pointers made (currently 94) in less than two seasons. Storey, like Camera, was a Preseason All-PacWest Team honoree and had one of her best games to date versus Holy Names when she poured in 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the field. Earlier in the year, she knocked down five triples against Cal State East Bay en route to 17 points, a figure she has reached four times this season.

Storey averages 10.8 points per game and ranks 16th in the PacWest in three-point field goals made per game (1.5).  Additionally, she is putting up 1.8 assists and 1.5 steals (18th in PacWest) per contest at the close of the regular season.

"Zoie, Regina, and Shani do an amazing job of contributing to our success in their areas of expertise," Coach Larson said. "All of the individual awards signify an elite level and all are imperative to the success we have had. We enjoy this and move on because we have a lot of work ahead of us!"

This is the first PacWest postseason honor in the ART U careers of Larson, Forthan, Guinn, Sheng, Camera, and Storey.