BELMONT, Calif. – In a crucial Pacific West Conference rematch hosting Biola as well as Senior Night, Academy of Art women's basketball played its best with the game hanging in the balance in the fourth quarter. The Urban Knights celebrated junior guard Chanel Stuart and junior guard/forward Ladun Akako prior to tip-off and led by 11 at the half, but after fought back to take a fourth quarter lead, ART U executed an impressive 20-6 run that fittingly included two layups from Stuart en route to a 77-64 win to take over the fourth spot in the conference standings.

"I am so proud of the team for being able to win on Senior Night," said Head Coach Krystle Evans. "We did a good job of not getting too emotional and rallied around our seniors. This is the first time this senior class swept Biola."

Both sides began in rhythms offensively with just four misses in their first 12 shots combined and a slight 10-9 Academy of Art advantage. BU would go on to lead by as many as seven midway through the opening quarter, but the final four minutes was all ART U as junior guard Lauryn Manns hit a jumper before Stuart and redshirt freshman Kaila Murrell each buried their respective first 3-pointers of the day.

The Eagles went back up by six with a run to start the second quarter yet the momentum shifted once again with the Knights' 12 unanswered points capped by another Stuart triple. The final eight points of the half also belonged to Academy of Art as the team was electrified by a steal from freshman guard Milan Tuttle that immediately led to Manns' three-point play conversion on the other end.

Up 40-29 at the break, ART U added to that when freshman guard Brooke Rodgers scored seconds into the third quarter, but Biola set up a full court press and steadily brought down the margin to two at 46-44 with two minutes to go. Murrell knocked down her third 3-pointer in the final minute of the third, but BU countered with one of their own and six points separated the teams moving to the fourth.

Eight quick points in the early stages soon allowed the Eagles a 58-57 advantage, but after Rodgers and Manns scored in quick succession thereafter, the lead change would be permanent. Able to break BU's press on more than one occasion, the Knights found Stuart for layups on back-to-back possessions then she registered a big block to eventually transition into a 3-pointer from Tuttle. In the final two minutes, nine made free throws helped ART U seal its 77-64 win to sweep the season series with Biola.

"Once we calmed down and embraced the pressure, we did a good job of finding the gaps," Evans said. "In the fourth quarter, we did a better job of being patient and attacked the press to score."

Having matched the program's highest PacWest win total since 2016-17 with a 12-5 conference record, Academy of Art is also now 15-9, one victory away from matching its highest overall win total since that same year. For the now fourth-place Urban Knights, Manns scored 24 points to match her season-high from last weekend and ending 12-for-13 from the foul line to tie for the third-most free throws ever made by an ART U student-athlete in a single game. She also matched her career-high with six steals, contributing three assists and two blocks as well.

A total of 13 points (3-for-6 from long range) plus two steals came from Murrell in 16 minutes off the bench while Stuart's first game in Feb. 5 had her deliver 12 points. Both Tuttle and Rodgers were on their way to respective triple-doubles with the former logging eight points, five rebounds, and five assists in addition to three steals and the latter grabbing nine rebounds with seven assists, six points, and two steals. Freshman forward/center Christy Ojide added eight points, five rebounds, and two blocks as well.

Biola's four-game winning streak is ended as the Eagles drop to 17-8 and 13-5 back of the Knights in the PacWest standings. Stephanie Lee's 18 points (all on six 3-pointers) led BU while Amiah Simmons added 15 points and four steals despite being one of two Eagles with six turnovers.

The final game of ART U's regular season takes place back inside Fresno Pacific's Special Events Center this Saturday as the Knights rematch the Sunbirds at 2 p.m.

"We did not do a good job of finishing at the rim and making our free throws against FPU last weekend," Evans said. "I expect for us to do a better job of focusing and finishing."