Game #29
ART U Urban Knights (21-7, 18-2 PWC) vs. Dixie State/Dominican
Friday, March 7, 2014 at 7:45 PM
San Diego, CA – Golden Gymnasium
Live Stats | Live Video

ACADEMY OF ART ENTERS PACWEST TOURNEY AS #1 SEED
After taking its first Pacific West Conference regular season championship with a dominant 18-2 conference record, ART U Women's Basketball looks to defend its other major title this weekend. In the second edition of the PacWest Conference Championship Tournament (Mar. 6-8), Academy of Art looks to make it two tournament championships in two years with a shot at automatically qualifying for the NCAA DII National Tournament. The Urban Knights were the only program in the PacWest to win 20 games this regular season and thus enter the tournament as the #1 seed. On Friday, they will face the winner of Thursday's #4 Dixie State and #5 Dominican matchup.

OPENING TIP
Breaking down the tournament schedule, ART U will have a bye on Thursday, Mar. 6, but anticipates the victor in a pairing of #4 and #5 seeds in Dixie State and Dominican. On the other side of the bracket, #2 seeded California Baptist awaits the winner of #3 Hawaii Pacific and #6 UH Hilo. The Knights see their first action in the semifinals on Friday, Mar. 7 at 7:45 PM. Then the PacWest Championship game takes place on Saturday, Mar. 9 at 7:45 PM. All contests in the tournament will take place inside Point Loma's Golden Gymnasium. Live coverage will be available via the links above and via PacWest Tournament Central. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter & Instagram and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

TICKET INFORMATION
Single-day general admission tickets are only $10 and grant access to all games on that particular day, men's and women's. All-Tournament passes are just $25 and only available through the pre-sale site. No all-tournament passes will be sold at the door, so be sure to order today for nearly a 50% savings!

Presale Tickets - Order today!

TICKET PRICES (AT EVENT)

Adults	$15
Students (College & High School)/Military/Seniors (60+)	$10
Children (under 12)	Free

ART U APPEARING ON NATIONAL, REGIONAL RANKINGS
The Urban Knights achieved their highest NCAA Division II West Regional ranking in program history last week with a #7 selection, having moved up from #10 the week prior. Additionally, Academy of Art received 15 votes on the USA TODAY Sports Division II Top 25 Coaches' Poll for Week 14, essentially making them the 37th highest choice in the country.

KNIGHT WATCH
Among the country's NCAA Division II leaders in turnover margin for the second consecutive season, Academy of Art ranks seventh in the country in that category with a positive +6.25 mark. Additionally, the Urban Knights are 16th in scoring offense (79.4 points per game), 22nd in steals per game (11.0), 27th in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.08), 35th in scoring margin (+9.5), and 36th in assists per game (15.8). Despite a loss to Azusa Pacific to end the regular season, Krystal Forthan kept her double-double streak alive with now 13 consecutive games. She ranks 13th in the country in total double-doubles (14) despite playing nearly half the number of games as virtually every name around hers on the list. She is currently averaging 18.6 points (would be 3rd in PacWest if met game minimums), 12.1 rebounds (would be 1st in PacWest), 2.4 blocks (would be second in PacWest), 1.9 steals (would be 7th in PacWest), and 2.2 assists per game.

The Urban Knights offer four other players who regularly score in double figures including Regina Camera's 11.2 points per game which combines with and adds 4.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. Zoie Sheng comes in with the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the PacWest (1.9) while putting up 10.8 points and 3.25 assists per game (7th in PacWest). For the second time this year, she led the team offensively with 17 points (11-of-13 FT) against Azusa Pacific and was the only Urban Knight to start all 28 games during the regular season. Fellow sophomore Sha'Nice Storey, who recently became the program's all-time 3-pointers made leader (now 94) is tied with Sheng at 10.8 points per game.

Molly O'Brien is the final ART U player in the double digits, averaging 10.2 points in 24.1 minutes per game. She is sixth in the conference in field goal percentage (47.2) behind second-place Alisa Griggs (50.0). Jasmin Guinn remains second in the PacWest in offensive rebounds (3.6 rpg) and is fifth in steals per game (2.2 spg) with a 9.1 points per game average while adding nine double-doubles thus far.

LANCERS LOOMING AT #2
Finishing up the regular season with five wins in their last six games, California Baptist comes into the tournament as the #2 seed sporting a 15-11 overall record, 13-7 in the PacWest. It was a low-scoring 54-46 win over Azusa Pacific on Feb. 8 that set CBU on a four-game win streak after an 80-75 loss to Hawaii Pacific ended their island roadtrip. Despite dominating Chaminade (100-41), UH Hilo (71-60), and Hawaii Pacific (74-60) back on the mainland, the Lancers fell 91-83 to Point Loma before bouncing back with a 96-85 victory at Dixie State on Mar. 1. California Baptist is led by Kamille Diaz whose 13.6 points per game rank 11th in the PacWest and her 3.0 3-pointers per game are first overall. In two meetings this season, Academy of Art won 74-66 at home on Dec. 5 with four players scoring in double figures, then edged the Lancers 82-81 on Dec. 21 with five players scoring in double figures despite a 55-point second half for CBU.

WARRIORS SEEING #3 SEED
Hawaii Pacific holds the #3 seed in the tournament this year after coming in at #1 last season. The Sea Warriors went 17-9 overall and 13-7 in PacWest play despite a rocky stretch from Jan. 23 - Feb. 17. A 10-2 conference record was shaken by losses at Fresno Pacific (67-63) and hosting Azusa Pacific (82-76) before solid wins against California Baptist and BYU-Hawaii seemed to get HPU back on track. A tough roadtrip through Southern California saw losses come to Point Loma (81-78), Azusa Pacific (69-52), and California Baptist (74-60), but Hawaii Pacific does take the momentum of three wins, over Notre Dame de Namur (87-63), Fresno Pacific (71-55), and UH Hilo (78-61), to close the season into this year's tournament. Ranked #3 in the PacWest in scoring, Skye Savini averages 16.0 points per game while Morganne Comstock is the conference's top rebounder at 10.9 rebounds per game and 13 double-doubles to date. In the Knights and Sea Warriors' only meeting this season, ART U managed to win a late free throw battle and take a 75-72 victory in Hawaii with five players scoring in double figures.

STORM BREWING IN #4 SPOT
Playing some of their best basketball of the season in February, Dixie State enters the PacWest Tournament with a 13-13 overall record and 11-9 against conference opponents. Though a 2-5 stretch came for the Red Storm in mid-January after a successful Hawaii roadtrip, DSU won five straight at home including victories over Holy Names (95-80), BYU-Hawaii (62-60), UH Hilo (77-54), and Chaminade (73-68). Dixie continued that streak with an 86-65 triumph at Dominican to split the season series (the Penguins won 64-47 in Utah), but Academy of Art then dominated the Red Storm to the tune of a 97-81 final that saw ART U lead wire-to-wire. DSU's regular season would end with a 96-85 loss back home against California Baptist despite a game-high 36 points from the country's fifth-leading scorer Haley Holmstead. She leads the PacWest with a 23.5 points per game average that is aided by an average of 6.2 free throws made per game. Taylor Mann adds the third-highest rebounding average in the PacWest at 8.7 rpg. Academy of Art and Dixie State have met twice this season and, in both instances, the Knights have scored at least 97 points. ART U defeated DSU 98-85 in Dixie thanks to five players scoring in double figures and picked up the aforementioned 97-81 victory behind an incredible game from Krystal Forthan who had 22 points, 17 rebounds, seven blocks, and six assists.

#5 PENGUINS PICKING UP SPEED
For the first time in program history, the Dominican women's team makes a PacWest Conference Tournament appearance this Thursday. The #5 seeded Penguins wrapped up a 2013-14 season that was a tale of two halves with a 9-17 overall record and 9-11 in the PacWest. After a 0-12 start to the year, Dominican picked up two victories in Hawaii and got hot down the stretch with a four-game win streak that came during a period of six wins in seven games. The Penguins bested Dixie State (64-47), Holy Names (64-61), Notre Dame de Namur (75-52), and Holy Names again (67-61) on that winning road before falling to the Red Storm (86-65) and Academy of Art (69-59) in late February. Dominican would bounce back, however, and win 74-70 at NDNU to close out the regular season. Although no Penguin is among the PacWest's top 14 in scoring, Dominican offers Sarah Nelson as the conference's #2 shot blocker (2.4 bpg) and Salonika Quewon-Owens as the seventh-best rebounder (7.9 rpg). The Knights faced the Penguins on each end of the regular season, but both matchups were similar in that Academy of Art had low scoring outputs despite getting the win each time. ART U won 59-43 in San Francisco then 69-59 in San Rafael.

HILO HOLDING ON TO #6
With eight conference victories to date, UH Hilo has worked its way back from a major tailspin in the middle of its PacWest slate. The Vulcans come in as the #6 seed with a 9-15 overall record and 8-12 in PacWest. When ART U defeated UH Hilo 74-64 in Hawaii on Jan. 20, the Vulcans, who had held a relatively even record at the time, proceeded to drop seven straight including two to California Baptist. It was not until Feb. 17 that UH Hilo won again, 78-73 at Azusa Pacific, and got them back on track for a string of three consecutive victories. At home for the final four games of the regular season, the Vulcans split with losses to Fresno Pacific (63-56) and Hawaii Pacific (78-61) finishing the year. Kamie Imai is the team's leader and floor general, averaging 11.5 points per game, 3.5 assists per game, and a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio that ranks fourth in the conference. However, it was Kirstie Williams who exploded for 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field in the previous meeting of ART U and UH Hilo this season. A strong first half held up as Academy of Art went on to win that one 74-64.

COUGARS CHALLENGE ART U, SWIPE SENIOR KNIGHT WIN
On an emotional night inside Kezar Pavilion with the regular season coming to a close and ART U Women's Basketball seniors honored, the Urban Knights found themselves in a dogfight with the second place team in the Pacific West Conference standings, Azusa Pacific. The Cougars had the upper hand this time around, shooting over 50 percent from beyond the three-point arc, finishing the first half on a 12-4 run, and ultimately defending against an Academy of Art comeback.