SAN FRANCISCO – In a swan song of a season for seven Academy of Art University women's basketball seniors, the Urban Knights' 2015-16 campaign saw the most wins in program history, thrilling battles against the best the West Region had to offer, four 1,000-point milestones, and the team's third NCAA postseason appearance in the past four years.

Beginning two weeks earlier than the majority of NCAA Division II teams, ART U challenged two of three ranked teams as part of the CCA Tip-Off Classic. A narrow loss to New York Institute of Technology was followed by tough matchup with eventual NCAA Tournament Second Round finisher Winona State (ranked No. 16 at the time) and the threat of an upset facing No. 7 Alaska Anchorage who would later finish as the NCAA Championship runner-up.

"We scheduled our non-conference to be very challenging from the start," said head coach LaNay Larson. "I think playing against top competition early was a big learning process. It was a determining factor to see if we were on track toward achieving some of the goals we had set at the beginning of the season."

In its second of four non-conference tournaments, Academy of Art traveled to Montana for the GNAC/PacWest Yellowjacket Challenge where the Knights picked up their first two wins of the year. Led by All-Tournament Team honorees senior guards Jasmin Guinn and Zoie Sheng, ART U defeated Simon Fraser on Nov. 13 then backed that up with a tightly-contested 69-67 victory over host Montana State Billings that saw Sheng hit the game-winner in the waning seconds.

Academy of Art was then inside familiar confines in Belmont for the Notre Dame de Namur Tournament which featured one of the greatest moments in program history. On Nov. 20, not one but three Urban Knights scored their 1,000th career point in the same game as Guinn, Sheng, and senior guard Regina Camera all reached the milestone during a 76-66 triumph over Stanislaus State. The team's fourth consecutive win then came one day later in a matchup with Central Washington and, in a Nov. 24 grinder with Cal State Dominguez Hills, senior guard Sha'Nice Storey became the fourth ART U player to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau.

With Pacific West Conference play one week away in late November, the Knights traveled across the bay for the CCAA/PacWest Thanksgiving Shootout to play Cal State Monterey Bay and host Cal State East Bay. Against the Otters, Guinn erupted for the program's new scoring record of 35 points in a convincing win, then the Pioneers edged Academy of Art 73-69 in overtime the following evening.

"Playing our first 12 games on the road against many of the top teams in the West Region gave us a good sense of who we were and what we could be," said Larson.

A 23-point fourth quarter at NDNU powered ART U to its first of what would be 10 consecutive victories to open PacWest Conference play. That gave way to a historic individual performance by Storey at Fresno Pacific on Dec. 12. The senior guard nailed six 3-pointers as part of a 20-point first quarter effort and went on to earn the program's first NCBWA National Player of the Week honor after the win.

Resuming play on Jan. 5, the Knights scored a season-high 33 points off turnovers in a dominant victory over Holy Names, used an 18-3 run to come from behind and top Point Loma, then delivered Hawaii Pacific its first conference loss with a balanced attack. That set the stage for ART U's annual trip to Hawaii where double-digit wins over UH Hilo, HPU, and BYU-Hawaii ensued. The results improved the team to 10-0 in PacWest play and Coach Larson became 15-1 on the islands over her past five years with Academy of Art.

Similarly to the Knights' 2013-14 campaign, it was eventual PacWest Tournament champion Azusa Pacific (ranked No. 25 at the time) who played spoiler to the ART U win streak. The Cougars used a second-half run to gain separation in the 84-72 victory on Jan. 23 back inside Kezar Pavilion, but Academy of Art went right back to putting up the W's.

A season-high 61 rebounds highlighted an 81-58 victory over newest conference member Concordia (Jan. 27) and that would propel the Knights to eight consecutive wins, a streak that featured a season-best 95 points at Dixie State (Feb. 11), Coach Larson's 100th win with the program at CUI, and a 90-82 thrilling overtime comeback at Point Loma that saw ART U down by 19 points late in the third quarter.

"The PacWest was such a great conference this year," said Larson. "I look back on my last 10 years and can honestly say that this year by far has been the strongest. I think that speaks volumes for how far we have all come and how hard it will continue to be to win championships in this league."

After keeping Dominican at bay in a 94-91 win (Feb. 20) to push their PacWest record to 17-1, the Knights collided with No. 4 California Baptist on Feb. 23 for what would be the first of three meetings in less than three weeks. The Lancers led 35-23 at the half exclusively from a 21-point second quarter and would go on to defeat ART U 79-70. Academy of Art would honor its senior class of Guinn, Storey, Sheng, Camera, Vianai Austin, Caron Brown, and Alex Washington prior to an 83-50 domination of NDNU (Feb. 27) then headed into its fourth consecutive PacWest Conference Championship Tournament.

In Irvine for the start of the postseason, Academy of Art relied on its seniors as the Knights ran past Point Loma 77-70 to reach the semifinals of the conference tournament and a rematch with California Baptist. Against the Lancers, ART U trailed by one with seven minutes left, but ended up taking a 90-80 loss after CBU converted layups down the stretch.

Though Academy of Art did not reach the championship game, its success against West Region teams during the year would pay off with the Urban Knights' third NCAA Tournament appearance. Yet again facing California Baptist in a matchup of the West Regional's third and sixth seeds, ART U could not recover from the Lancers' 33-point third quarter which ended Academy of Art's year in Azusa.

At the season's conclusion, Academy of Art had Guinn, Sheng, Storey, and Camera each honored with All-PacWest Team selections. Guinn was named All-PacWest First Team and PacWest Defender of the Year for the second time in her career after ranking among the top three in the country in steals per game for the majority of the year. She would also earn D2CCA All-West Region First Team honors. Sheng, the program's career leader in assists and owner of a 1.8 career assist-to-turnover ratio, earned All-PacWest Second Team.

An All-PacWest Third Team selection, Camera proved to be one of the most versatile players in the PacWest throughout the year. She was the lone individual to rank in the top 10 in points, assists, and steals per game. Storey also garnered All-PacWest Third Team honors after averaging career-highs offensively (points per game, 3-pointers made per game, and three-point percentage) and becoming the first Urban Knight to make more than 200 career shots from beyond the arc. All members of the quartet ended up starting each and every one of the team's 33 games in 2015-16.

"Words cannot describe what those four seniors did for this program," said Larson. "They came in as freshmen, won a title, and continued that legacy throughout their careers. They are the epitome of what we expect of someone in our program, winning on and off the court."

Academy of Art now looks to continue building on its tradition of success after having made tremendous progress over the last eight years.

"We feel blessed to have been able to do the things we have done, but look forward to always doing more," said Larson. "This past team paved an important path on our journey and we are excited to be able to continue and add to the legacy of ART U Women's Basketball!"