IRVINE, Calif. – In a Pacific West Conference rematch from a previous Dec. 1 pairing in San Francisco, Concordia got the better of Academy of Art women's basketball 77-62 on Thursday evening inside the Eagles' CU Arena. Junior guard
Brianna Cates helped keep the Urban Knights' hopes alive throughout, finishing with a career-high 27 points split evenly over the two halves.
ART U started out in a shooting battle with CUI as the lead changed hands three time in the first three minutes. After Cates got the scoring started with back-to-back layups, freshman guard
Chanel Stuart later made it a one-point game with a three-point play at the two-minute and 12-second mark. However, the Eagles netted two consecutive 3-pointers to end the quarter up 26-19.
Benefitting from two missed free throws, Academy of Art got a huge boost when junior forward
Ines Medina knocked down a transition triple to return the CUI lead to three points. Though the Knights were within a single point on multiple occasions thereafter, they could not retake the lead and soon found themselves down 43-31 at the half following a 13-2 run by the Eagles.
Despite trailing going into the second, ART U's shooting performance compared well to that of the Eagles. The Urban Knights were connecting at a 48.1 percent clip from the field and 80 percent from the foul line.
Concordia was able to maintain its double-digit lead well into the third quarter, extending the score 58-38 with 3:43 to go. Cates opened up the fourth with a pair of free throws, and with a layup from sophomore forward
Lily Perkins, the Urban Knights looked like they would make a push for a comeback. A 3-pointer and two Stuart free throws later, Academy of Art was within 12 points with 2:33 remaining in regulation, but CUI ended up making 10 of its final 12 free throws to win 77-62.
Now 3-12 overall and 2-10 in PacWest play, ART U was led by the aforementioned career-high 27 points from Cates on 10-of-19 shooting from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 performance from the foul line all in 32 minutes. Stuart contributed 13 points with four steals, Medina added five points and six rebounds, and Perkins put up six points and three steals.
Continuing to cling to the final spot in the PacWest Championship Tournament, Concordia improves to 6-6 in conference play and 7-10 overall. Much of Thursday's game featured the one-two punch of Jasmine Rachal (29 points) and Michaela Vanderklugt (26 points).
Academy of Art remains in Southern California this weekend for another PacWest rematch with Point Loma inside the Sea Lions' Golden Gymnasium on Saturday, Jan. 26. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.
