Box Score
Photo Gallery (images by Rob Garcia & Austin McKeon)

San Diego, CA – Unfazed by an eight-point deficit early in the second half, ART U Women's Basketball fought back to take an 82-72 victory from Dixie State in the semifinals of the Pacific West Conference Championship Tournament. The Urban Knights rallied with a 21-3 run and scored 14 points off turnovers in the second half en route to the victory. PacWest Player/Newcomer of the Year Krystal Forthan led the way with 26 points and 16 rebounds for her 14th consecutive double-double.

"The biggest thing with us is composure especially with a young team," PacWest Coach of the Year LaNay Larson said. "We play a lot of sophomores and we have been a bit of a rollercoaster team this year. We got up by a lot, became a little complacent, and had some foul trouble so we had to have some people step up off the bench. It wasn't our best performance, but it was good enough to get a win tonight."

Krystal Forthan's early pair of jumpers got Academy of Art off to a solid start and soon a 10-2 surge had ART U up 14-6. The burst was keyed by layups from Sha'Nice Storey and Regina Camera then finished off by Molly O'Brien's triple off a quick feed from Alisa Griggs. The Knights soon increased their margin to double digits on a Camera layup and there it would remain for the next four minutes as ART U delivered a steady diet of fast break layups.

A resilient Dixie State squad responded by cutting the lead from 12 to just three with an 11-2 run on scores from a variety of Red Storm players. Sheng converted a crucial three-point play late in the half, but Dixie ended up closing the period with a 9-2 push that led them to a 38-37 lead at halftime, their first since starting the game up 2-0.

The Red Storm built their one-point lead into a 48-40 advantage early in the second half, guided by back-to-back triples from Kaylah Miller. However, the lead dwindled with Forthan following her own miss for a layup and Camera hitting a 3-pointer of her own off Sheng's assist. Camera began sharing the wealth as she fed O'Brien and Storey to cap a 9-0 surge that got ART U back in front, 51-50.

What eventually turned into a 21-3 run by the Knights included layups by Forthan and Jasmin Guinn as Academy of Art went ahead 63-53 with 6:19 left to play. From there, it was a series of aggressive takes to the rim by O'Brien which either resulted in a layup or points at the foul line that kept ART U on top.

Up by seven with three minutes left, the Knights traded baskets with Dixie State and never let their opponents come any closer. Forthan almost single-handedly fended off DSU, scoring three layups and then blocking a layup inside on the very next possession.

"We're a different team when Krystal is on the floor in all aspects," Coach Larson said. "She can score and she's a hard matchup because she can shoot from the perimeter or get to rim and she adds a lot on the boards for us as well as a presence in the lane defensively. Without her on the floor, we tend to struggle a little bit because we get used to having her out there so obviously the goal from here on out is to keep her out of foul trouble. When she's on the floor, we're a much better team."

Late in the game, the Red Storm resorted to the foul strategy, but Academy of Art converted seven of eight free throws down the stretch. An exclamation mark came on Forthan's emphatic block of Taylor Mann's 3-pointer with 37 seconds left as ART U finished off the 82-72 victory.

"I like to come out ready to play and help my team the way I can," Forthan said. "We're here to keep going as far as we can. We just want to play as a team and play together."

For the now 22-7 Urban Knights, Forthan had 20 points and 14 rebounds in the second half alone, finishing with 26 points (11-of-17 FG), 16 rebounds, and two blocks in 22 minutes. It was her 14th consecutive double-double and tied her highest scoring output of the season, matching the 26 points she had against BYU-Hawaii on Jan. 25.

"I really never had a ring through middle school, high school; nothing. So to be one game away from reaching my personal goal, I probably won't be able to sleep tonight," Forthan said. "I'm excited to play a great team in Cal Baptist and be part of this great program."

Camera added 15 points and four assists while O'Brien put in 12 points with seven rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. Storey offered 11 points and fellow St. Mary's Academy teammate Sheng had eight points along with seven assists. Additionally, she made four free throws which makes her the holder of the program's new single-season record (108 free throws made thus far).

Dixie State falls to 14-14 on the year despite a 17-point, 24-rebound performance from Halieigh Emerine. Miller added 18 points and seven assists while Taylor Mann finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds. However, tough defense by PacWest Defender of the Year Jasmin Guinn and others kept the fifth-best scorer in the country, Haley Holmstead, to just six points total with zero field goals made in the second half.

A 78-62 victory for California Baptist over Hawaii Pacific in the game prior to Academy of Art, leads to a pairing of the #1 and #2 seeds in the PacWest Championship contest on Saturday night at 7:45 PM back inside Point Loma's Golden Gymnasium.

"We have a ton of respect for Cal Baptist, they're a great program," Coach Larson said. "Ever since they entered the PacWest, they've been one of the top teams if not the top team so the early matchups [in December] were great games. No lead for us is big enough and they've improved as the season went on. They're playing their best basketball right now and are a young team rebuilding like us so we're looking forward to the matchup. You always want to play the best and I think it's going to be a great game. We definitely need to come out with our best effort, shoot the ball a lot better, and play more disciplined."