FRESNO, Calif. – There was no shortage of drama, excitement, and teamwork in the first win of the 2020-21 season for Academy of Art women's basketball.

Facing a 13-point deficit in the final quarter on the road inside the Special Events Center, the Urban Knights clamped down defensively and aggressively attacked the basket on the other end to rally and trail Fresno Pacific by one with under a minute to go. On the team's final possession and playing in her first game of the year, junior forward Ladun Akako drove into the paint and scored to ultimately give ART U a 67-66 Pacific West Conference victory.

"This group has worked tremendously hard to be able to play," said Head Coach Krystle Evans. "We never doubted our ability, our preparation, or each other and that's what makes this satisfying."

A 3-pointer from redshirt freshman guard Kaila Murrell helped Academy of Art establish an initial lead and free throws by senior forward Megan Jefferson helped keep the Urban Knights in front for the remainder of the quarter. An 8-0 FPU run that began at the end of the first frame swung the momentum to the home team and, with less than two minutes until halftime, the Sunbirds led by double digits. A layup by junior guard Chanel Stuart in the final minute made the margin 31-23 going into the break.

Stuart then knocked down a triple to key a 6-0 start to begin the third, but Fresno Pacific heated up with a 10-2 response. ART U continued to battle, using layups by junior guard Lauryn Manns, freshman guard Brooke Rodgers, and Stuart for an 8-3 push midway through only to see FPU go up 55-43 on a layup in the quarter's final seconds.

"Heading into the fourth we talked about our theme for this year: 'Respond, don't react,'" Evans said. "We were down by double figures and had to be disciplined emotionally by responding to the challenge instead of reacting and panicking. We've faced challenges all year so we knew how to respond."

Though FPU's Rachel Berry knocked down a pair of clutch jumpers, freshman guard Alyssa Munn had the answer and one Stuart free throw brought ART U to within a single point with 53 seconds to go. A turnover proved costly for the Sunbirds as, out of a timeout, Akako split two defenders for an easy layup with less than a second left, giving her team the 67-66 victory in the end.

Now 1-2 both overall and in PacWest play, Academy of Art had three players score in double figures including Murrell's 13 points, Manns' 12 points, and 10 points to go with 12 rebounds for Stuart's first double-double of the year. Jefferson offered a season-high nine points off the bench while Munn and Rodgers each had eight points apiece. Rodgers added 10 rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

"We have a very versatile team," Evans aid. "The biggest key to scoring 24 points in the fourth was each person committing to being aggressive and not settling. Kaila Murrell, Brooke Rodgers, and Lauryn Manns are great defenders and we challenged them to get us going defensively by just containing and getting deflections. The three of them truly stepped up on the defensive end during crunch time."

Saturday saw the first PacWest loss for the Sunbirds who drop to 4-5 overall and 4-1 in conference action. Bayli McClard posted a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds while Rachel Berry added her own double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds plus seven assists.

ART U is slated to make up one of its previous games against Fresno Pacific this Tuesday, Feb. 23 in what will be the Urban Knights' debut inside Walter Gleason Gym in Belmont.

"FPU is a veteran team that knows how to win," Evans said. "Our biggest takeaway going into our next game is monitoring our emotional IQ. Basketball is a game of runs. Whichever team can sustain the wave will win."