Game #29
#8 Seed ART U Urban Knights (18-10) vs. #1 Seed No. 15 Cal State East Bay Pioneers (22-2)
Friday, March 11, 2022 at 5 p.m.
Hayward, Calif. – Pioneer Gym (Tickets available online here)
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #30 (If necessary)
#8 Seed ART U Urban Knights (18-10) vs. #4 Seed No. 20 Cal State San Marcos Cougars/#5 seed No. 9 Azusa Pacific Cougars
Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
Hayward, Calif. – Pioneer Gym (Tickets available online here)
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #31 (If necessary)
#8 Seed ART U Urban Knights (18-10) vs. TBD
Monday, March 14, 2022 at 7 p.m.
Hayward, Calif. – Pioneer Gym (Tickets available online here)
Live Stats | Live Video

NCAA TOURNAMENT WEST REGIONAL ROUND STARTS ACROSS THE BAY
Qualifying as one of 64 teams in the NCAA Division II Championship Tournament for the fourth time in program history, Academy of Art women's basketball continues its postseason quest locally this weekend. The #8 seed in the West Regional Championship round, the Urban Knights come off a runner-up finish in the Pacific West Conference Tournament and draw #1 seed No. 15 Cal State East Bay, a team they faced this past November, to open the stretch of up to three games across four days of action.

TIP-OFF
All three NCAA DII West Regional round games will take place in the evening beginning with ART U's 5 p.m. matchup against Cal State East Bay this Friday, Mar. 11. The following day, Saturday, Mar. 12, semifinal action tips off at 7:30 p.m. and the championship game will take place on Monday, Mar. 14 at 7 p.m. All games will take place inside CSUEB's Pioneer Gym in Hayward. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights via the athletics app (Apple App Store, Google Play Store) and on Twitter & Instagram, as well as "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
This year's NCAA DII West Regional Championship will feature eight teams, taking place from Pioneer Gym on the campus of Cal State East Bay on Mar. 11-14. Tickets are available to be purchased online and can be found here, while all games will feature live stats available here and video for free through Cal State East Bay, with the live stream available here. For the official NCAA Championship Tournament program, follow this link. For more information, please visit the NCAA DII West Region Tournament Central.

KNIGHT WATCH
Already having achieved its third-highest win total in program history at 18-10 overall, ART U had its season-best seven-game win streak end in the PacWest Tournament title game, but now has an opportunity to make history as a win in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament would mean uncharted territory for the program (previous trips in 2013, 2014, and 2016 each ended after one round). Including the conference tournament games, Academy of Art leads the PacWest in rebounds (43.5), offensive rebounds (17.6), and steals (11.7) per game while adding the second-highest turnover margin (4.4) and second-most blocks (5.3) per contest. Additionally, ART U further dropped its program single-season record for lowest scoring defense (60.8 points allowed) and has maintained its single-season record for blocks per game. Among NCAA Division II programs, the Knights are sixth in offensive rebounds and blocks, 15th in rebounds, 17th in steals, 15th in rebounds, and 38th in turnovers forced per game as well as 29th in turnover margin.

Currently top nine in four major career stat categories at ART U, junior guard Chanel Stuart continues to make moves toward the completion of an impressive collegiate career that included her unforgettable 42-point performance on Jan. 15. A PacWest All-Tournament Team selection and All-PacWest Second Team honoree, she now ranks sixth in the PacWest in both three-point field goals made (2.2) and steals per game (1.9) while adding a team-high 11.3 points per contest (15th in PacWest). In terms of her ART U career, Stuart is up to third in 3-pointers made (117), seventh in steals (124), eighth in points (749), and ninth in rebounds (411) with seven double-doubles in her career.

With double-digit rebounds in 12 of her last 15 games through the first round of the PacWest Tournament, All-PacWest Second Team selection freshman forward/center Alisha Wilson still leads the conference with 10.6 rebounds (4.6 on the offensive glass) and is second with 1.6 blocks per game, ranking 25th in the country in the first of those categories. The Pomona native's offensive rebounding average is seventh in NCAA DII and, with her 9.6 points per game, she now has 14 double-doubles on the year to rank 20th in the nation (second only to Krystal Forthan's 16 which represent the ART U record).

A 16-point effort in the PacWest Tournament semifinals against Point Loma on Mar. 4 helped give All-PacWest Third Team honoree junior guard Lauryn Manns double-digit point totals in four of her last six games. To go with her 9.5 points per game (fourth on the team), she remains 15th in the conference with 1.6 steals per game as a result.

Freshman guard Brooke Rodgers broke out for a career-high 22 points (10 from the free throw line) against PLNU to help send the Knights into the title game and is averaging 8.9 points per game along with 1.7 steals per contest (13th in PacWest). With 11 of her last 14 games featuring two or more steals, PacWest All-Tournament Team selection freshman guard Milan Tuttle has risen to join Stuart at sixth in the PacWest with an average of 1.9 thefts per game followed closely by Wilson's 1.8 average. A double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds came with two blocks from freshman forward/center Christy Ojide most recently against Azusa Pacific on Mar. 5 and she now ranks third in the PacWest at 1.2 rejections per contest. 

Through eight games played, graduate student guard Joy Krupa put up 11.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.1 blocks, and 1.9 steals per game. She added a .451 field goal percentage with four double-doubles.

IN THE BELLY OF THE (B)EAST BAY
Following Cal State East Bay's 63-46 win over ART U back on Nov. 19 in Turlock, the Pioneers proceeded to go 20-1, starting a 14-game win streak that ended at the hands of Cal State San Marcos 76-54 on Feb. 3. One month later, CSUEB avenged that loss by defeating the Cougars 80-66 to become CCAA Tournament Champions. Now ranked No. 15 nationally and hosting the West Regional rounds, Cal State East Bay puts its seven-game win streak on the line as the #1 seed. No Pioneer averages more than Delia Moore's 12.2 points per game, but the team's defense has been their hallmark as they are 13th in NCAA DII in opponent field goal percentage (.345) while four players average 1.3 steals or more. Zhane Duckett comes off being named CCAA Tournament MVP after she averaged 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.0 steals in two victories. Despite the loss to CSUEB earlier this year, Academy of Art leads the historical matchup 6-3.

POTENTIAL OPPONENTS
Facing the team that emerges from ART U's matchup with Cal State East Bay will be either #4 seed No. 20 Cal State San Marcos or #5 seed No. 9 Azusa Pacific. CSUSM was not on the Knights' schedule this season and the most recent of two meetings with APU came in the PacWest title game that the Cougars won 60-49 on Mar. 5.

On the other side of the bracket lie #2 seed No. 13 Central Washington, #3 seed No. 25 Western Washington, #6 seed Alaska Anchorage, and #7 seed Northwest Nazarene with Academy of Art having faced only WWU this season in a 57-43 defensive battle that the Vikings won on Dec. 14.

COUGARS CLAIM PACWEST TITLE DESPITE KNIGHTS' TOUGH DEFENSE
After limiting No. 13 Azusa Pacific to just eight points in the second quarter and leading 22-20 in the first half, Academy of Art women's basketball could not overcome the Cougars' third quarter run in the Pacific West Conference Championship Tournament final on Mar. 5. Working their way back from a double-digit deficit, the Urban Knights trailed by just four points with over three minutes left in regulation, but the end result was a 60-49 win for APU despite 30 ART U bench points and a double-double from freshman forward/center Christy Ojide.

LOOKING AHEAD
Should Academy of Art qualify, the final three rounds of the NCAA Division II Tournament will be played on Mar. 22-25 inside Bill Harris Arena at Birmingham Crossplex in Alabama.