Box Score

Riverside, CA – What had been a 21-point lead dissolved into a one-point win, but Academy of Art University Women's Basketball still got the victory 82-81 over California Baptist on Saturday afternoon at Van Dyne Gym. Five Urban Knights scored in double figures led by Molly O'Brien's 15 points, but it was free throws in the waning seconds by Zoie Sheng and Sha'Nice Storey that preserved the win.

"With it being our third game in four days and not having Jasmin [Guinn], I thought we started to look really fatigued at the end," head coach LaNay Larson said. "We have to just battle through that better and our decision-making needs to get better. There are a lot of things we can learn from that game, but much better to be able to learn from a win than a loss."

Regina Camera was on fire out of the gate. She hit two 3-pointers and added a layup during ART U's 18-4 run to start the game. Krystal Forthan saw her first action of Academy of Art career, getting a basket and a steal in her first four minutes on the court. The Knights held onto a double-digit lead for the majority of the first half as Forthan and O'Brien worked in tandem offensively.

A 9-0 run initiated by Aleigh Krug and finished by Sheng's triple made it a 17-point advantage, 39-22, late in the opening period. Finally, layups by Forthan and O'Brien in the final two minutes pushed the ART U lead to 19, putting them up 45-26 at the half.

Academy of Art remained in control to for much of the second period, using back-to-back jumpers by Forthan and O'Brien to create a 21-point margin at 61-40 with 10 minutes left. From up 17, the Knights held just a four-point lead, 74-70, following a 19-6 comeback by the Lancers. Big 3-pointers by Cassidy Mihalko and Chanel Cambronero brought CBU extremely close with a minute and a half on the clock.

"We played a great first half, but need to learn how to not just maintain but expand on a lead like that," Coach Larson said. I thought in the second half we became content and then really tentative when they started to cut into the lead."

In response, O'Brien converted a clutch three-point play to return the ART U lead to seven, but baskets by Mihalko and Erin Asher on the other end made it just a three-point margin, 77-74, with 38 seconds remaining. The teams exchanged free throws with Sheng and Storey each tossing in a pair before Sheng once again headed to the line with her team up by three. She split the two and a three-point play by Megan Brown dropped the Knights' advantage to one with a second left. O'Brien missed the final two foul shots, one purposely, and Academy of Art prevailed 82-81.

The Urban Knights rise to 4-0 in PacWest play and 7-5 overall with the victory. O'Brien finished with a team-high 15 points and 11 rebounds while Camera chipped in 13 points (3-of-6 3PT), five rebounds, and three steals. Krug also had 13 points with four rebounds and, in her debut, Forthan posted 12 points, nine rebounds, three steals, and three blocks. Storey was the fifth ART U player to score in double figures with 11 points and four rebounds.

"It was exciting to get Krystal on the court after a year and a half," Coach Larson said. "She adds a whole different dimension and is a really hard match up for any team. This game was good for her to get her feet wet and was just a glimpse of what she is going to do in the future."

For the Lancers, now 3-8 overall and 1-4 in PacWest, Asher scored an impressive game-high 29 points (10-of-15 FG) along with seven rebounds, six assists, and four steals. She was supported by Mihalko 18 points and eight rebounds. Both players played more than 30 minutes off the bench.

ART U now has a 13-day break from competition with their next contest starting a three-part Hawaii roadtrip on Jan. 4 in Honolulu at Hawaii Pacific.