Box Score

San Francisco, CA -- In a battle of two evenly-matched teams, the ART U women's basketball team took a tough 79-69 loss at Kezar Pavilion on Thursday night. A five-point game at halftime, the Urban Knights used a 12-4 burst midway through the second half to cut the deficit to four, but the Lancers pushed back to earn the victory. Junior guard Jordan Rogers led the way for Academy of Art University with a stat sheet-stuffing night of 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Senior guard Devin London added 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor.

“I knew coming into Thursday night it would be a battle, especially after such a big win Tuesday," head coach Larson said. "We talked about not being content and coming out with the same energy and effort and I thought we did that to start the game. We wore out a little and I made some mental mistakes but never stopped competing.”

Coming off her career game against Dixie State, junior center Juliua Fraser was involved in each of the Knights' first four scores Thursday, assisting three and converting a layup of her own. The ART U offense was flowing, but so too was that of Cal Baptist as both teams battled for an advantage early. The Lancers assumed a four-point lead, 17-13, on a triple by Ashley Whitzberger at the 7:58 mark, but Rogers came right back with a 3-pointer of her own off an assist by London.

CBU managed to hold its slight lead for the next four minutes and eventually went up by its greatest margin, six points, on a layup by Jasmine Beverly. Sophomore forward Alisa Griggs and senior guard Lorraine Etchell each scored layups from that point, but an unfortunate foul in the final second resulted in three free throws for the Lancers. All three fell and it was a 36-31 Lancers lead going into halftime.

The Cal Baptist lead grew in the opening minutes of the second period with a fastbreak basket and a triple by Amy Browne, but after London knocked down two foul shots, Griggs converted an ART U fastbreak layup via a feed from junior forward Ariel Dale, and the CBU coach received a technical foul, the Knights began to creep back. The ensuing possession saw an active Academy of Art team grab three offensive rebounds before Etchell hit a jumper in the lane.

A timely 7-2 Lancers run denied ART U on this occasion, but freshman guard Vianai Austin responded by breaking the surge with a 3-pointer. Both teams endured a nearly two-minute scoring drought midway through the half prior to the Knights' last gasp. Rogers found Griggs for a layup and then drained a triple after Etchell stole the ball and found her teammate in transition. That basket cut the lead to four, 54-50, with still 9:21 to play, but a quick 7-0 burst by CBU ended up making the difference. In the end, Cal Baptist strung more timely baskets together and pushed across a 79-69 win.

“I thought our defensive intensity was there and we had a lot of steals," Coach Larson. "We just didn't convert on turnovers and had too many of our own.”

A career game from Rogers came Thursday night in the form of 19 points along with eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals. She scored 10 of those points in the second half in addition to dealing out four assists. London added 17 points, her second highest scoring performance of the year, with 11 coming in the first period and Griggs contributed 11 points. Austin played a productive 18 minutes off the bench, scoring seven points and grabbing four rebounds. The Knights move to 5-6 overall, 1-2 in PacWest play.

“I thought Jordan played a good all around game. She shot well from three-point range and was great on the boards," Coach Larson said. “Devin has done a great job of running the point for me this year. She scores when needed and has done a good job of taking care of the ball. Defensively she gets her hands on a lot of passes and forces a lot of turnovers.”

Cal Baptist also used a complete team effort to improve to 9-1 overall and 2-0 in PacWest play. Simone Holmes had 17 points including a 3-of-3 night from beyond the arc while Jasmine Beverly added 16 points off the bench on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. The tandem of PacWest Player of the Week Myriah Hicks and Nicole Anderson each had 10 points and four assists apiece.

The Urban Knights' year-opening homestand continues this Thursday when Cal Baptist comes to Kezar Pavilion for a PacWest rematch. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:00 PM.