SAN FRANCISCO -- Buzzer. Beater.
With two seconds left in regulation of a tie game, freshman guard
Chanel Stuart rose from the beyond the arc and launched the basketball. As the shot touched the bottom of the net and she was swarmed by her teammates, Academy of Art women's basketball found itself winners of a thrilling 70-67 Pacific West Conference victory over Holy Names inside Kezar Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.
Both teams started the game shooting well, but it was a 7-0 ART U run that helped them establish a 10-point advantage about seven minutes in. Three consecutive layups by junior forward
Ines Medina keyed the push and she would soon knock down a 3-pointer for 10 points in six minutes of action.
Though HNU fought back with a quick 5-0 push, the Urban Knights' defensive pressure forced three more turnovers and kept the visitors scoreless for the final two minutes. Sophomore guard
Shyla Miller scored her first basket of the season to end the quarter with Academy of Art on top 22-12.
The Hawks worked their way back, remaining on ART U's heels despite five more points from Medina in the first five minutes of the second quarter. A 10-4 run by Holy Names had the margin down to 33-30 with a minute to go, however, the Knights would have the last word of the half on a steal and breakaway layup by Stuart in the final 30 seconds.
Sophomore forward
Lily Perkins had the first two conversions of the second half for Academy of Art, but the Hawks continued their comeback and would tie the game at 42-42. Knotted up two more times thereafter, HNU briefly held a pair of one-point leads, but the Knights did not stay down for long. In the third quarter's final minute, Stuart scored a layup then, with six seconds left, foreshadowed what was to come when she connected on a 3-pointer falling away in the corner.
Up 54-50 to start the fourth, Academy of Art saw its lead return to a single point on a triple by the Hawks, but senior guard
Inga Kot answered back with her own shot from beyond the arc. ART U took a seven-point lead with a little under five minutes left yet by the final 50 seconds of regulation, Holy Names had whittled its deficit down to 67-66. Split free throws by HNU had the game tied up 67-67 and, after a timeout, the Knights put the ball in the hands of Stuart who found an opening with mere seconds left and drained the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.
With the 70-67 triumph, Academy of Art improves to 4-18 overall and 3-16 in PacWest play with the victory. Medina, who finished as the team's leading scorer with a career-high 20 points, matched her career-high with 16 rebounds including 11 offensive to tie the program's single-game record originally set by
Alisa Griggs in
2012 and matched by
Pre'Franz Dominick last season. Stuart's 19 points were her highest total in exactly one month and she added four assists as well as three steals. Perkins also had three steals while stuffing the stat sheet with 17 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
Holy Names falls to 3-23 on the year and drops back of the Urban Knights with a 3-17 conference record. Just two Hawks scored in double figures led by Onjalise Carley-Hilliard's 14 points.
ART U now turns its attention to Senior Night which will feature a ceremony to honor
Taloni Reese and
Inga Kot prior to the 5 p.m. rematch with Notre Dame de Namur inside Kezar Pavilion on Thursday, Feb. 21.
