Game #26
#3 Seed ART U Urban Knights (16-9, 13-5 PacWest) vs. #6 Seed UH Hilo Vulcans (14-9, 11-8 PacWest)
Thursday, March 3, 2022 at 12:30 p.m.
Fresno, Calif. – Special Events Center (Tickets available online here)
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #27 (If necessary)
#3 Seed ART U Urban Knights (16-9, 13-5 PacWest) vs. #2 Seed Dominican Penguins/#7 Seed Point Loma Sea Lions
Friday, March 4, 2022 at 5 p.m.
Fresno, Calif. – Special Events Center (Tickets available online here)
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #28 (If necessary)
#3 Seed ART U Urban Knights (16-9, 13-5 PacWest) vs. TBD
Saturday, March 5, 2022 at 4:30 p.m.
Fresno, Calif. – Special Events Center (Tickets available online here)
Live Stats | Live Video

POSTSEASON BEGINS WITH PACWEST TOURNEY IN FRESNO
Five consecutive wins to close the regular season propelled Academy of Art women's basketball to secure the third seed in the Pacific West Conference Championship Tournament which begins this Thursday in Fresno. Champions in the tournament's first two iterations (2012-13, 2013-14), the Urban Knights open their fifth trip to the postseason having already turned in their best campaign in the last five years and are set to rematch sixth-seeded UH Hilo.

TIP-OFF
Academy of Art faces UH Hilo to begin the PacWest Women's Basketball Championship Tournament as a whole at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Mar. 3. Should the Knights advance to the semifinal round, a 5 p.m. matchup with the winner of #2 seed Dominican and #7 seed Point Loma awaits on Friday, Mar. 4. The championship game will take place on Saturday, Mar. 5 at 4:30 p.m..  Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights via the athletics app (Apple App Store, Google Play Store) and on Twitter & Instagram, as well as "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
This year's PacWest Championship will feature an expanded field of eight teams, taking place from the FPU Special Events Center on the Fresno Pacific campus beginning on Mar. 3. Tickets are only available to be purchased online and can be found here, while all games will feature live stats and video for free through Fresno Pacific and the PacWest, with the live stream available here. For all the latest tournament news, as well as brackets and tournament programs, please visit the PacWest Tournament Central.

KNIGHT WATCH
A regular season to remember, 2021-22 saw ART U achieve its highest win PacWest win total since 2015-16 and match the program's highest overall win total since 2016-17. The Urban Knights led the PacWest in offensive rebounds (17.8) and steals (12.5) per game while adding the highest turnover margin (4.9) and second-most rebounds (43.5) and blocks (5.4) per contest. Additionally, ART U set program single-season records for lowest scoring defense (61.1 points allowed) and blocks per game. Among NCAA Division II programs, the Knights are fifth in offensive rebounds and blocks, 12th in steals, 15th in rebounds, and 30th in turnovers forced per game as well as 25th in turnover margin.

Currently top nine in four major career stat categories at ART U, junior guard Chanel Stuart recently returned to continue progressing toward the completion of an impressive collegiate career that included her unforgettable 42-point performance on Jan. 15. An All-PacWest Second Team honoree, she finished the regular season ranked fifth in the PacWest in both three-point field goals made (2.2) and steals per game (2.1) while adding a team-high 11.4 points per contest (15th in PacWest). In terms of her ART U career, Stuart is fourth in 3-pointers made (108, one off third place), seventh in steals (122), eighth in points (716), and ninth in rebounds (391).

Concluding the regular season with double-digit rebounds in 11 of her last 14 games, freshman forward/center Alisha Wilson was also selected to the All-PacWest Second Team after pacing the conference with 11.1 rebounds (4.8 on the offensive glass) and 1.7 blocks per game, ranking 17th and top 50 in the country in those categories. With five in her most recent game, the Pomona native's offensive rebounding average is fourth in NCAA DII and, with her 9.5 points per game, she now has 13 double-doubles on the year to rank 23rd in the nation.

Turning in two of her biggest scoring outputs of the season in the last three games, junior guard Lauryn Manns picked up All-PacWest Third Team honors after pouring in 24 points in back-to-back games against Fresno Pacific on Feb. 20 and Biola on Feb. 24. To go with her 9.7 points per game (third on the team), she also earned the final PacWest Defender of the Week selection thanks to nine steals and three blocks in her final two contests. She moved up to 15th in the conference with 1.7 steals per game as a result.

In addition to grabbing five or more rebounds in her final nine games of the regular season, freshman guard Brooke Rodgers is the fifth Urban Knight averaging 9.0 or more points per game along with 1.8 steals per contest (14th in PacWest). Eight of her last 11 games have seen freshman guard Milan Tuttle record three or more steals and, in that time, she has risen to seventh in the PacWest with an average of 2.0 thefts per game followed closely by 1.9 averages from both Wilson and freshman guard Alyssa Munn. One of four in the PacWest averaging 1.0 blocks per contest or higher, freshman forward/center Christy Ojide (1.1) remains third in the PacWest in that category.

Through eight games played, graduate student guard Joy Krupa put up 11.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.1 blocks, and 1.9 steals per game. She added a .451 field goal percentage with four double-doubles.

VULCANS VERSION 3.0
After a nine-point loss to Academy of Art on Feb. 13, UH Hilo has won four of its last five games heading into the PacWest Tournament. The Vulcans swept Holy Names, then topped Fresno Pacific and Chaminade, but fell 68-65 to Dominican along the way. UH Hilo finished the regular season as the PacWest leading in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 59.9 points per game as well as only a .251 three-point field goal percentage. The team is led offensively by Mandi Kawaha, an All-PacWest First Team selection who averages 15.9 points (seventh in PacWest) and 4.0 assists (third in PacWest) per game while Nikki Miller checks in at fifth in the conference in rebounds per game (8.9). A split this season has ART U ahead of UH Hilo 10-9 historically.

POTENTIAL OPPONENTS
The winner of ART U's matchup with UH Hilo will face the victory out of a quarterfinal pairing of #2 seed Dominican and #7 seed Point Loma. Though the Penguins won both games against Academy of Art this season, each contest was extremely close with the Knights down by one point with 20 seconds left on Dec. 4 and tied with two and a half minutes left on Feb. 5. Playing PLNU twice in a one-month span, ART U swept the series with a 68-60 win on Dec. 11 followed by a 70-61 victory on Jan. 6.

On the other side of the bracket lie #1 seed No. 13 Azusa Pacific, #4 seed Concordia, #5 seed Biola, and #8 seed Fresno Pacific against whom Academy of Art is a collective 5-2 this season with sweeps of both BU and FPU.

ART U CLOSES OUT 64-53 WIN OVER FPU WITH 14 UNANSWERED
Uniting for a truly memorable finish, Academy of Art women's basketball turned a three-point deficit into a 64-53 triumph with a 14-0 run in the final seven minutes of a Feb. 26 rematch with Fresno Pacific inside the Special Events Center. ART U matched the program record for fewest points allowed in a quarter, holding the Sunbirds to just five in the final frame while four Urban Knights finished scoring in double figures. The victory, coupled with Concordia's loss to No. 14 Azusa Pacific, elevated Academy of Art to finish the regular season third in the Pacific West Conference standings.

LOOKING AHEAD
Should Academy of Art qualify, the first three rounds of the NCAA Division II Tournament will be played at the West Regional host site to be determined in the Selection Show this Sunday, Mar. 6 at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT).