Box Score
SAN FRANCSICO – Fighting back from a 10-point deficit early in the second half, the Urban Knights hung tough and gave themselves a game-winning opportunity in the final seconds. However, it was not to be on Thursday night inside Kezar Pavilion as Hawaii Pacific prevailed 72-71 after the 3-pointer by junior guard Sha'Nice Storey did not fall.
Close early, Academy of Art made the first move with a steady three-minute run of 10 unanswered points with the junior backcourt of
Jasmin Guinn and
Zoie Sheng each knocking down triples. Sophomore forward
D'Andree Galipeau's layup finished off the streak with ART U up 16-7 and the margin would reach double digits midway through the period before a 13-3 Sharks' response.
Transition buckets by redshirt junior guard
Vianai Austin, Storey, and Guinn helped Academy of rebuild its advantage to 35-26 late in the opening half, but Hawaii Pacific rallied once again to the tune of a 10-0 run and the score wound up tied 36-36 at the intermission.
After being held to zero points in the first half, Morganne Comstock, one of the PacWest's top scorers, began to do damage early in the second half as HPU pushed a 10-point lead in the first five minutes. This time, a 12-2 surge capped by Guinn's fastbreak jumper knotted the score 52-52 with nine minutes and 55 seconds left. The game was a dogfight the rest of the way and, despite a six-point difference favoring the visitors at 1:33, it was far from over.
Over the 30 seconds that followed, Sheng drained a 3-pointer then hit a jumper in the paint to bring her team within one, 70-69, with 49 seconds on the clock. Free throws by Comstock set up a chance for the Knights to tie on a long range shot which Sheng missed, but she retrieved her own rebound and shortly thereafter, she made a pass to junior center
Caron Brown for the quick layup.
With one point now separating the teams, Sheng intercepted the football pass by Hawaii Pacific to break their full court press. Senior guard
Molly O'Brien missed a layup with four seconds left, but ART U maintained possession and had one final chance coming out of a timeout. The ball was inbounded to Storey in the left corner, she collected, turned, and put up the shot, but it fell short and the Sharks came out winners at the buzzer.
The Knights were led by a career-high 23 points and eight rebounds from Guinn while Storey's first career double-double came in the form of 16 points with a career best 10 rebounds. Sheng added 12 points and Brown posted eight points with seven rebounds in 18 minutes of action. Academy of Art is now 11-7 overall and 6-6 in PacWest play.
Hawaii Pacific improves to 16-2 overall and 11-0 in conference thanks in large part to Breanna Mackenzie's 19 points and Chenise Peone's double-double (17 points, 16 rebounds). One of the PacWest's top scorers, Morganne Comstock, was held to zero points in the first half, but finished with 14 points.
ART U completes a stretch of three games in six days with BYU-Hawaii in town this Saturday, Jan. 24 for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.
