2016-17 Women's Basketball Schedule

SAN FRANCISCO – The path is now set for Academy of Art University women's basketball as sixth-year head coach LaNay Larson has officially announced the Urban Knights' 2016-17 schedule. Following up a record 33-game season last year, ART U embarks upon 28 regular season contests against some of the best teams the West Region has to offer this November.

"When putting together the non-conference portion of our schedule, I thought it was important for this new group to be tested early and often for our program to get a good idea of where we stood against some of the best teams in the West Region," said Larson.

Academy of Art starts its campaign up north in Alaska, facing each of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's teams there. The Knights tip off their first contest in Fairbanks against Alaska on Nov. 11 then follow with NCAA National Champion runner-up Alaska Anchorage on Nov. 12. The Nanooks were 12-18 overall last season while the Seawolves met ART U for the first time early in 2015 and managed to eke out an 87-82 victory.

"Going up to Alaska for two games is a challenge in itself," said Larson. "Alaska Fairbanks returns a huge part of a very competitive team from last year and Alaska Anchorage played in the National Championship game and always rebuilds with an extremely talented and hardworking squad."

Back in California next, Academy of Art meets Stanislaus State on Nov. 16 in Turlock then plays its home opener at Kezar Pavilion on Nov. 23, hosting Simon Fraser. The Warriors took a 16-10 record into the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament, but ended up falling to Cal State San Bernardino. SFU finished fourth in the GNAC (15-10) and later lost to Alaska Anchorage in the GNAC Tournament.

"Simon Fraser is a team that a lot of people are not only picking as one of the top teams in the West Region, but also as a team that could compete deep into the NCAA tournament," Larson said.

The Knights will spend their Thanksgiving holiday in action against two opponents in a tournament at Cal State East Bay in Hayward. Those teams are still to be announced, but the games will occur Nov. 25-26.

December 1 brings the start of PacWest Conference play for Academy of Art with a trip to Fresno Pacific first up followed by a Dec. 5 pairing with BYU-Hawaii in San Francisco. ART U continues its home and road seesaw with a journey across the bay to Holy Names on Dec. 11 before hosting Cal State Monterey Bay on Dec. 17 in a brief departure from conference action. The Knights were 5-0 against FPU, BYUH, and HNU last season.
 
The new calendar year opens with a road contest at Sonoma State on Jan. 3 then Academy of Art is back home to face Dixie State on Jan. 5. The first of ART U's two meetings with Dominican in a two-week span takes place on Jan. 7 and Chaminade will be in town for a Jan. 10 matchup. With three victories last year, the Knights improved to 28-1 collectively against the Penguins and Silverswords all-time.

Academy of Art faces perhaps its biggest regular season challenge in mid-January with a trip to Southern California to play 2016 co-regular season PacWest champions Azusa Pacific (Jan. 14) and California Baptist (Jan. 16). After losing just one game apiece through the conference season, the Cougars and Lancers both went two rounds into the NCAA West Regional Tournament before falling to UC San Diego and Alaska Anchorage respectively.

"Last year the PacWest made a huge statement in having three teams in the NCAA tournament and hosting the first three rounds," said Larson. "I look for the conference from top to bottom to continue the trend toward being stronger and deeper with so many challenging games. We have a lot of new faces this year after losing such a large senior class and I look forward to seeing how this team embraces their own identity to compete at the highest level possible."

After hosting Dominican on Jan. 19, ART U remains within its Northern California pod to play Notre Dame de Namur on the road Jan. 22. Fresno Pacific comes to Kezar Pavilion on Jan. 25 then the Knights return to Southern California for one stop at Point Loma on Jan. 28. Academy of Art topped PLNU three times in 2016 with the final being in the opening round of the PacWest Tournament.

Following a pair of games at home against Holy Names (Feb. 2) and NDNU (Feb. 5), the Knights make their annual flight to Hawaii for a three-part roadtrip. ART U will play every other day, beginning with Chaminade on Feb. 11 then Hawaii Pacific and a rematch on BYU-Hawaii's home turf. Last year, HPU finished one spot behind Academy of Art in the PacWest standings, going 14-6.

ART U will have to wait until the end of the regular season for its longest homestand of the year. Concordia is first up on Feb. 20 followed by UH Hilo on Feb. 23 and Senior Day will be Feb. 25 against Azusa Pacific. The postseason will feature the PacWest Conference Championship on Concordia's campus in Irvine Mar. 2-4 then NCAA Tournament later in the month.