Box Score
Arcata, CA – The Academy of Art University's women's basketball team battled Humboldt State University on Saturday evening. After holding the lead in the final minutes in the second half, the Urban Knights allowed the Lumberjacks to come back and force the game into overtime. The Knights fought hard through overtime, but ended up coming up short with a final score of 76-73.
The Jacks took an early lead in the game by scoring first with a 3-pointer. But the Knights answered back just a minute later. The game would continue to go back and forth in that fashion, as both teams exchanged leads for the entire half. Devin London gave the Knights their first advantage of the game, 4-3, just three minutes in. With 8:47 on the clock, the Knights went on an 8-2 run and soon led by the largest margin all game thus far, 22-17. After Humboldt battled back in the final minutes of the first, the Urban Knights found themselves ahead with a score of 29-28 as they headed into halftime.
Humboldt came out with the same intensity in the second half as they did in the first, and regained the lead just minutes into the period. The game continued as it did in the first with the teams battling back and forth for the lead. Humboldt stayed ahead in the second half until the Knights went on an 8-0 run to tie things up 46-46 off a layup by Alisa Griggs, assisted by London. Nicole DeRosier put up back-to-back triples during the surge.
Late in the second half, the contest remained extremely close. The Knights held a 63-60 lead with just seconds left in the game, but HSU had one final chance. The Lumberjacks answered with a 3-pointer in the final second to tie things up, and forced the game into overtime.
Verity Peets scored right away in overtime to give ART U a lead, but the game proved to repeat history. The teams battled back and forth, each taking their turn leading. However, Humboldt was ahead with just under two minutes left in overtime. The Knights tried to re-gain the lead, coming as close as 71-70, but the Jacks were able to hold on by making foul shots in the end. London hit a free throw in the finals minutes of play, but unfortunately that would not be enough for the Knights. The Jacks stole the game from ART U and came away with a final victory of 76-73.
“Every player played hard no matter what their role was,” said Head Coach Lindsey Yamasaki. “We had unrelenting effort and energy on and off the court. For the first time this season, I felt like we were embodying what it means to play Urban Knight basketball. This win [for the Lumberjacks] stings, but not as bad as it has before. This is an effort we can build on.”
Jessica Nolan had another outstanding game for the Urban Knights. She scored 14 points and recorded 14 rebounds on the night. Devin London also stood out recording a team high 17 points, with three 3-pointers in the contest. As a team, ART U shot 60 percent from behind the arc.
“Jess [Nolan] was solid, and Devin handled the defensive pressure and attacked well,” added Yamasaki.
For the Lumberjacks, Bree Halsey posted a team high 22 points and 13 rebounds, as well as going 10-16 from the line. Behind her was Kayla Williams who recorded 16 points. As a team, Humboldt shot 59 percent from the free throw line.
After the loss, the Academy of art University's record is now 1-6 overall, and Humboldt State University's record is at 2-4 overall. The Knights continue play in the Humboldt Tournament on Sunday, December 12th. Game time is set for 1:00pm against Cal State East Bay.
