BILLINGS, Mont. It was a battle in Billings, but the Academy of Art held on for a 71-66 victory over Simon Fraser in their first game of the GNAC/PacWest YellowJacket Challenge.
 
It was ultimately a tale of two halves on Friday. In the first, the Urban Knights got off to a quick start, leading SFU 24-18 at the end of the quarter. Half of these points came courtesy of senior guard Jasmin Guinn who scored 12 in the opening quarter and 29 overall. Her point total marked the second-most that she has scored in a game during her career as an Urban Knight and the third most in school history. Guinn also holds the record for the most points (31) which was accomplished on March 5, 2015 versus Azusa Pacific. At the end of the first half, ART U looked in control of the game, leading SFU by 12 points (43-31).
 
When the buzzer sounded for the second half to begin, the Clan played with a renewed sense of energy and clawed their way back to a 54-53 score at the end of the third.

The fourth quarter featured a united defense from the Urban Knights, holding SFU to a 24.0% shooting percentage, only allowing six shots to go in. In fact, Simon Fraser was held scoreless for five minutes until the Clan's Alisha Roberts managed to sink a three-pointer. But with 1:37 left on the clock, SFU came back to tie the game at 64 apiece. With 46 seconds remaining, Guinn continued her big night, breaking the tie with a two-point jumper that put ART U up for good. After a series of turnovers and fouls against Simon Fraser in the final seconds, Academy of Art was able to pull away and win the game.
 
KNOTABLE KNIGHTS
The largest contributor for the Urban Knights was (as previously mentioned) senior guard Jasmin Guinn. Guinn tallied 29 points (9-for-17), an assist, and a team-high six steals. Senior guard Regina Camera was another standout for ART U, scoring 18 points with two assists.
 
HEAD OF THE CLAN
SFU's Elisa Homer led the Clan with 18 points on the night.
 
UP NEXT
ART U improves to 1-3 and looks to get their second straight win on Saturday when they face Montana State University-Billings at 7:30 p.m. MT. Saturday's game represents the final matchup of the tournament before returning home.