Box Score
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San Diego, CA – One season, two Pacific West Conference Championships.

Academy of Art University Women's Basketball made it back-to-back PacWest Conference Tournament titles and added to their regular season championship with an 88-76 victory over California Baptist. Leading the entire way, ART U was ahead by 21 at halftime and dominated the Lancers, out-rebounding their opponent 59-40 which led to 27 second-chance points in the tournament finals inside Golden Gymnasium. The Urban Knights assure themselves a spot in the NCAA Division II National Tournament with the win.

"This was a goal we set at the beginning of the season," PacWest Coach of the Year LaNay Larson said. "We wanted to win the regular season championship and come back to win another tournament championship. I thought that was the best first half of basketball that we have played all season and definitely set the tone for the entire game. We came out aggressive, disciplined, and all the things we talked about regarding defensive schemes. Offensively, we attacked and played to our strengths."

A layup by Regina Camera started the game and it was a sign of things to come as she got to the rim three times in the first three minutes. The Lancers never took a lead during early on and soon the Urban Knights were up 15-7 on Alisa Griggs' basket underneath. An ART U burst then featured Molly O'Brien and PacWest Player/Newcomer of the Year Krystal Forthan combining for 10 unanswered points while Academy of Art forced four CBU turnovers in that span.

"It was nice coming in knowing what the atmosphere was like and I just knew we needed to put this game away from the get-go," Camera said. "I felt like no one was going to stop us tonight. That was the goal and I think we executed very well overall as a team the whole game."

From up 17, the Knights rose ahead by 20 in the next two minutes, capped by Camera's triple to make it 33-13 midway through the opening half. ART U briefly pushed a 24-point advantage on Zoie Sheng's layup, but California Baptist managed to keep the game from getting further out of hand with three triples down the stretch. Following four free throws in the final minute, Academy of Art held a 52-31 lead at the break.

The long range attack for the Lancers continued into the second half as three more 3-pointers fell in the first two minutes. Despite the offense, repeated layups by the Knights maintained their 20-point margin. Griggs and Madeline Martin each took turns scoring before Jasmin Guinn found Sha'Nice Storey for a trey to push the lead back to 24.

A quick 5-0 run by CBU was later aided by four successful trips to the foul line during a three-minute span, but after all that, the Lancers were still no closer than 17 points in that span as Camera and Forthan worked in tandem. In final stretch, California Baptist went on an 11-2 run, but ART U's hard-earned margin preserved and the end result was an 88-76 victory and the Knights' second consecutive PacWest Conference Tournament Championship.

"Tonight, we played two solid halves which is something that's rare for our team and we did a good job of keeping our energy up the whole way," Camera said. "We were just playing together and playing strong the entire 40 minutes."

Academy of Art, now 23-7 overall this season, was led by a career-high 28 points (13-of-29 FG), 14 rebounds, and four blocks from Forthan. It was her 15th consecutive double-double. Camera added her second double-double of the year with 17 points and 11 rebounds while Sheng finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Griggs contributed 11 points in 17 minutes off the bench and Guinn did a little bit of everything with 11 rebounds, five points and five assists.

"I think getting a taste of what it was like was important," Coach Larson said. "We had a lot of returners who were freshmen last year and got a lot of experience which transferred to us being the more veteran team in this game. We knew what we needed to do to get the win."

Forthan was named PacWest Championship Tournament Most Valuable Player while Camera was a member of the All-Tournament Team.

"This is my first ring ever so all the emotions just came out," Forthan said. "When I go out there, I just try to get the most rebounds of anyone on the floor because rebounds win games."

California Baptist finishes its season with a 16-12 overall record, led by 20 points apiece from Jasmine Saucer and Ashley Jones. Kamille Diaz added 17 points.

"For our program, [the championship] is huge," Coach Larson said. "When I came to Academy of Art, that was obviously a goal. I wasn't sure we could do it in year two or three, but I knew it was a definite possibility. I wouldn't have taken the job if I didn't think we could build a championship team. I was confident in my ability, my staff's ability, and our administration that we could do this and we followed through. We have bigger and better goals ahead of us and to win the conference championship gives us a chance to attain those. I'm very proud of this team, this program, and the department. We're excited to represent them and reward them with a championship."

Academy of Art now awaits the results of the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament Selection Show which airs Sunday, Mar. 9 at 7:00 PM PT. Watch it here!