Game #17
ART U Urban Knights (10-6, 7-1 PWC) vs. UH Hilo Vulcans (5-6, 4-3 PWC)
Saturday, January 20, 2014 at 4:00 PM
San Francisco, CA – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio

Game #18
ART U Urban Knights (10-6, 7-1 PWC) vs. Chaminade Silverswords (2-11, 2-5 PWC)
Thursday, January 23, 2014 at 1:00 PM
San Francisco, CA – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio

Game #19
ART U Urban Knights (10-6, 7-1 PWC) vs. BYU-Hawaii (0-12, 0-7 PWC)
Saturday, January 25, 2014 at 1:00 PM
San Francisco, CA – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio

HAWAII HITS BAY AREA MONDAY, THURSDAY, SATURDAY
Urban Knights Women's Basketball will look to rebound from its first Pacific West Conference loss of the year with a three-game homestand hosting UH Hilo, Chaminade, and BYU-Hawaii this coming week. It will be the first meeting of the season between ART U and the Vulcans on Monday while rematches with the Silverswords and Seasiders come later in the week.

OPENING TIP
The week begins right away with a Monday, Jan. 20 gameday that sees ART U play host to UH Hilo at 4:00 PM. As part of a special "Academy of Art University Athletics Day" celebration, the Urban Knights women's track and field team who won the 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship will be presented with their championship rings at halftime. On Thursday, Jan. 23, ART U tips off a rematch with Chaminade at 1:00 PM and then goes up against Hawaii Pacific for the second time on Saturday, Jan. 25. All contests will be played inside Kezar Pavilion. Live Stats, Live Video, and Live Audio will be available for all games. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

SPECIAL NOTE: Academy of Art University Women's Basketball will receive its 2013 PacWest Conference Tournament Championship rings at halftime of the men's basketball game on Jan. 25. Find FAN BUS details for all games HERE!

KNIGHT WATCH
Leading the conference with a +5.40 turnover margin (15th in all NCAA DII), +8.3 scoring margin, and 1.0 assist-to-turnover ratio, Academy of Art utilizes a balanced offensive attack with PacWest Player of the Week Krystal Forthan's 17.4 points per game out in front. Forthan has seen action in five games to date, adding 9.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game. At 11.6 points per game, Molly O'Brien contributes a strong .486 field goal percentage along with 5.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. Sha'Nice Storey has delivered a 10.4 points per game average through 16 games and has knocked down the most 3-pointers by a single Urban Knight (26). She is now just eight triples behind the program's career leader Jordan Rogers (85).

Zoie Sheng, a big part of why ART U is first in the PacWest in assist-to-turnover ratio, offers 10.3 points as well as 2.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game with the team's highest three-point percentage (.432). Alisa Griggs, the program's career leader in points (906), field goals made (316), and rebounds (528), was held to 2-of-8 shooting against Holy Names, but still maintains a sparkling .517 field goal percentage that leads the PacWest Conference along with her 6.5 rebounds per game. After putting up her seventh 8+ rebound effort through 15 games, Jasmin Guinn comes into Monday's game averaging 9.5 points and 7.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. 

HELLO... HILO
It has been an up-and-down year thus for UH Hilo. The Vulcans split with Alaska Fairbanks to start the season then went 1-2 to start PacWest Conference play, beginning with a 73-69 overtime loss at Chaminade, ending by defeating BYU-Hawaii 80-53, and falling to Hawaii Pacific 70-62 in the middle. Saint Martin's defeated UH Hilo twice on the islands before the Vulcans completed their sweep of the Seasiders with a 66-50 win in late Decmeber.  Since the start of the new year, UH Hilo has dropped a 67-63 decision to Dixie State then topped Dominican 83-64 and Point Loma 84-67 most recently. Monday will be the Vulcans' first game on the mainland this season. A rugged defensive team wedged in between Azusa Pacific and Hawaii Pacific for field goal defense, UH Hilo is holding opponents to .361 shooting to date. Offensively, the team is led by Kamie Imai's 12.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Kirstie Williams adds 11.0 points per contest and has tossed in a program-record seven of her now 20 3-pointers in nine games played. In the teams' only meeting last season, the Vulcans dealt the Knights their first PacWest loss of the year on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer which gave UH Hilo a 5-3 advantage in the all-time series. Regina Camera had 13 points and eight steals in that contest.

SWORDPLAY SEQUEL
Not much has changed for Chaminade since Academy of Art scored a new program record against the Silverswords, winning 120-69 on Jan. 8. Chaminade began their roadtrip with a stopover at Hawaii Pacific on Jan. 11, falling 103-68 there despite 20 points from Lilia Maio. Chaminade sits at 1-11 overall and holds a single PacWest victory over the aforementioned UH Hilo back on Dec. 2. The Silverswords have 10.7 points per game coming from Kennedi Akana along with Maio's 12.0 ppg to lead the squad. The win earlier this season, which saw the Urban Knights score 60 points in each half as Forthan finished with a team-high 24, brought ART U to a 10-0 all-time record versus Chaminade.

CHOOSING SIDES
BYU-Hawaii, 0-11 overall this year, has played two games since falling to ART U 101-47 in what was the Knights' first ever break of the century mark. On Jan. 8, BYUH dropped an 80-65 decision to Dominican then had its closest final margin (11) in a 69-58 loss to Point Loma. In the contests, Seasiders leading scorer Danna Lynn Hooper had 18 points and 17 points respectively on her way to now a 14.1 points per game average. Having taken 51 more shots than the next closest BYU-Hawaii player, Hooper is also the team's top three-point shooter at .378 percent with 17 made. She is complemented by Brydgette Tatupu-Leopoldo who has averaged 12.0 points per contest in four PacWest matchups. The Knights improved to 8-2 all-time against the Seasiders with their dominant win earlier this season that saw six ART U players score in double figures led by 20 points and 10 rebounds from Forthan.

HAWKS DEAL KNIGHTS FIRST PACWEST LOSS OF 2013-14
After a jumper by Holy Names' Sonia Aguilar with four seconds left forced the first overtime game for Academy of Art University Women's Basketball this year, the Hawks got the better of ART U 10-5 in the extra period for a 75-50 victory on Tuesday, Jan. 14. The Urban Knights' held a four-point lead with 1:33 left in regulation, but were met with a 14-5 run that shifted momentum to HNU on its home court.

"There are a lot of things we could have done different at the end of regulation and in overtime," head coach LaNay Larson said. "Our defense and decision-making have to get better. Those are things a young team often struggles with and hopefully we are learning and growing from these situations."

LOOKING AHEAD
The Knights' final out-of-state roadtrip of the regular season follows this homestand as ART U travels to St. George, Utah to play Dixie State on Thursday, Jan. 30. Two days later on Saturday, Feb. 1, Academy of Art will be in San Diego for a rematch with Point Loma.