AZUSA, Calif. – Knotted with No. 21 Azusa Pacific after one quarter, within a single point in the later part of the second, and back by just five approaching the fourth, Academy of Art women's basketball had balanced contributions on both ends of the court, but ultimately fell to the Cougars 76-56 inside Felix Event Center on Thursday evening.

A scoreless first two minutes of the Pacific West Conference rematch gave way to a triple by APU, but a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Alba Rovira Ayuso then layups by junior forward/center Christy Ojide and freshman Lucia Revenga helped push ART U in front 10-9. Freshman guard Maddie Morrow proceeded to nail triples on consecutive possessions and the two teams would end up with their fourth tie, 20-20, at the end of the opening quarter.

The Cougars began the second frame on a 9-1 run before Rovira Ayuso knocked down her second 3-pointer to spur a 7-0 response with Revenga and Ojide providing points. Revenga then scored on two of her team's next three possessions to cut Azusa Pacific's margin to one point multiple times. A total of five APU free throws closed the half with the home team ahead 38-33.

Though Azusa Pacific's lead was kept in the single digits until the final three minutes of the third quarter thanks to scores by Rovira Ayuso, Revenga, and junior forward Yasmine Sifaoui, an ensuing 11-2 end to the frame separated the Cougars by double digits. APU kept its offense flowing to begin the fourth and wrapped a once extremely close ballgame at 76-56.

"Tough night against a very good team," said Head Coach Jesse Clark. "APU came out in the third quarter and took us out of our offensive rhythm which put us on our heels and we were unable to recover. We saw a lot of good things from our team tonight that we have been working on in training and I know we will continue to become more reliable in them in the future."

ART U, now 4-14 overall and 3-9 in PacWest play, had three Knights score 11 points apiece including Revenga, who added four rebounds, three assists, and two steals, Rovira Ayuso, who contributed five rebounds and two blocks, and Sifaoui, who finished with seven rebounds and two steals as well. Ojide stuffed the stat sheet, totaling seven rebounds, six points, three steals, and two blocks to put her now three rejections from breaking the program's career record.

With the victory, Azusa Pacific improves to 19-3 and remains undefeated at 13-0 in conference action. Kelly Heimburger paced the Cougars with 16 points, eight rebounds, and five steals while the tandem of TyLee Manuel and Paige Uehara added 14 points apiece.

Back in action this Saturday, the Urban Knights are set to challenge Point Loma in San Diego at 3 p.m.