Box Score HILO, Hawaii — Junior guard
Jasmin Guinn began her trip to Hawaii in style on Tuesday evening inside UHH Gym, scoring the fifth-most points in Academy of Art University women's basketball history and carrying the Urban Knights to a 59-55 win over University of Hawaii at Hilo to clinch a spot in the Pacific West Conference Tournament and keep head coach
LaNay Larson undefeated in Hawaii.
"We built a decent based on our defense and were able to hold on with some big plays down the stretch," said Larson. "Jas had a huge game and really carried us on both ends, but the difference was she stepped up and scored when we were struggling."
Guinn was the only ART U player to score more than seven points, going 10-for-22 from the field and 6-for-7 from the free-throw line to help Academy of Art (17-9, 12-6 PacWest) to its fifth win in a row. She also grabbed nine rebounds, including the final defensive board of the game with five seconds left to seal the four-point victory.
"Our focus was mostly rebounding and containing shooters," said Guinn. "Hilo's top two scorers are post players and I thought our defense did a pretty good job of containing them and not letting them get a lot of touches in the paint as well as contesting shots."
Academy of Art built a 10-4 lead by the first media timeout thanks to a steady diet of jumpers from junior guard
Regina Camera, junior center
Caron Brown, and Guinn. Then a two and a half minute ART U scoring drought was broken up by a 3-pointer from Guinn yet the Knights could not create separation as the game was tied 19-19 midway through the opening half.
The teams were never separated by more than two points for the next six minutes before senior guard
Molly O'Brien converted a layup, Brown added a free throw, and junior guard
Zoie Sheng hit a deep triple for a seven-point advantage. That margin would have carried into halftime if it weren't for Kirstie Williams' buzzer-beating 3-pointer which made it 31-27 Knights at the break.
Baskets by O'Brien and Guinn started off the second half and eventually senior guard
Madeline Martin found junior guard
Sha'Nice Storey for the long ball that put ART U up by double digits, 42-31, with a little over 13 minutes to go. Storey hit another triple, but Academy of Art could never push a lead greater than 11 points.
A 6-0 Vulcans run brought the margin down to five and the game would hang in the balance for the final 6:52 as Guinn proceeded to assist two buckets then score nine straight points in the back-and-forth action.
UH Hilo's Alexa Jacobs did her best to match Guinn's impressive output and the teams found themselves separated by three points, 58-55 with a minute left. When the Vulcans gained possession once again, Williams put up a 3-pointer with the potential to tie, but it missed and Sheng free throws ensued. At the line three times over the next five seconds of game time, Sheng made one to create the 59-55 final margin.
In addition to her career-high 28 points and nine rebounds, Guinn added four steals and a pair of assists in 35 minutes on the floor. Brown added seven points while the trio of Sheng, O'Brien, and Storey each had six apiece. Martin grabbed a career-high eight rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench.
"It was a pretty low-scoring game so it was definitely defense that won it and that's what we are going to take into the tourney," said Guinn. "Our scoring was low, but we had people make plays down the stretch when it counted."
With Dominican's loss to Hawaii Pacific earlier in the evening, ART U and BYU-Hawaii became the final two teams to earn PacWest Tournament berths. The victory kept the Knights on top of the Seasiders as the fifth seed currently and a matchup with the two teams coming this Thursday.
"Our goal coming into this trip was to win out and that doesn't change," said Larson. "We are very competitive and approach each game the same. We want more wins."
The loss drops UH Hilo to 8-14 overall and 7-11 in PacWest play despite three players scoring in double figures led by Jacobs' 15 points off the bench.
Academy of Art island hops to Oahu for its 5:00 p.m. HST (7:00 p.m. PST) tipoff against BYU-Hawaii on Thursday, Feb. 26.
