HILO, Hawaii – Right with UH Hilo one quarter into Monday evening's Pacific West Conference matchup, Academy of Art women's basketball weathered a second quarter push by the Vulcans and eventually made it a two-possession game in the third, but the home team put together a second run that guided them to the 68-53 victory inside Vulcan Gymnasium.

Though the Vulcans opened with five straight points, ART U countered with free throws from junior forward Yasmine Sifaoui and a basket by freshman guard Anna Fornells, two of the five different Urban Knights who scored in the opening quarter. Sophomore guard Alba Rovira Ayuso's five straight points then helped closed the gap to 9-8 and just one possession would separate the teams as the second quarter began.

Senior guard Ashana Hinds connected from long range early in the following frame, but an eventual 12-3 run enabled UH Hilo to lead 25-14 and the sides would proceed to trade baskets for the remainder of the half toward a 32-23 Vulcan advantage at the break.

Rovira Ayuso and Sifaoui provided five quick points in the opening minutes of the third quarter to cut the margin down to six at 34-28, but an ensuing 8-2 surge allowed UH Hilo to go back up by double digits. Buckets by graduate student guard tandem Emilia Dougherty and Briana Baker-Bruce briefly had it back to a single-digit ballgame though eight unanswered points bridged the Vulcans' third and fourth frames. Freshman guard Maddie Morrow heated up thereafter, knocking down her third 3-pointer of the final quarter at the five-minute mark, but the deficit proved to be too great and UH Hilo prevailed 68-53.

The Urban Knights drop to 4-11 overall and 3-6 in PacWest play with the result. Scoring in double figures for the seventh consecutive game, Rovira Ayuso finished with a game-high 17 points (three 3-pointers) while adding five rebounds and three assists. Morrow had three triples of her own toward nine points off the bench, junior forward/center Christy Ojide contributed seven points plus 10 rebounds, and Sifaoui made it now nine straight contests with at least six rebounds.

UH Hilo rises to 6-8 on the season and 2-5 against conference opponents after four Vulcans reached double figures offensively led by Kamalu Kamakawiwoole's 16 points and Keirsten Agonias' 15 points which combined on 15-for-26 shooting from the field.

"Unfortunately we were all unable to build on our momentum from Saturday," said Head Coach Jesse Clark. "Credit to UH Hilo and their performance. We grew this week as a team in our program intangibles and look forward to our next opportunity to perform."

Back on the mainland, ART U will close out this week with its first time facing Dominican on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 1 p.m. in San Rafael.