FRESNO, Calif. – Academy of Art women's basketball bounced back in both the first and second half on the road at Fresno Pacific on Monday, but despite trailing by just one at the half and by only five with nearly six minutes left, the Urban Knights dropped the Pacific West Conference rematch 59-46 inside the Special Events Center.

"We knew going into the game that it was going to be a battle between our two front courts," said Head Coach Jesse Clark. "I thought we grew in ways that are necessary for our program to win these tough road games."

ART U held multiple narrow leads in the first five minutes as a layup by sophomore guard Maddie Morrow had her team ahead 6-5 yet even with the Knights shooting 50 percent from the field in the opening quarter, the Sunbirds were in front 12-8 moving to the second.

There, FPU pushed its margin to as many as nine midway through before Academy of Art stormed back with consecutive layups from sophomore guard Lucia Revenga, freshman forward Keira Mitchell, and junior guard Alba Rovira Ayuso. The half ultimately ended with ART U on an 8-0 run after the home team was held without a single point in the final five minutes while the Knights' 11-rebound edge helped them trail only by one, 22-21, at the break.

"I think that our team has been really focusing on our defense and, when we have this on lock, our offense flows so much better," Mitchell said. "So throughout that last five minutes we really made an emphasis to over communicate, hustle, crash, and get after rebounds, and because of this we ran the floor and got easy transition baskets. Still heaps to improve on and we are looking forward to getting back in the gym and preparing for this game this weekend."

A 14-3 Sunbird run began the third quarter and an ensuing 12-point advantage was promptly cut down by a 5-0 burst then, after sophomore guard Anna Fornells drew a crucial offensive foul, senior forward Yasmine Sifaoui beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer in the final fraction of a second to make it just 39-34 FPU moving to the fourth.

By way of a 7-2 run marked by Revenga's three-point play plus extra-effort scores by freshman guard Harper Felch and Fornells early in the final frame, ART U was down just 46-41 with over five minutes and 50 seconds on the clock. A 7-0 counter punch from the home team, however, returned the margin to double digits and there was not enough time in regulation to overcome the eventual 59-46 final.

"I am proud of how we stuck together to get ourselves in striking distance in the fourth; our defensive execution and offensive rebounding helped us make this run," Clark said. "We need to be able to finish more of the opportunities we are given on both ends of the court as we move forward."

Academy of Art shifts to 9-8 overall and 2-7 in conference action with Monday's result. Revenga finished with a season-high 14 points, adding eight rebounds and three assists while Sifaoui provided 10 points. In the first start of her collegiate career, Mitchell amassed five blocks in the contest to put her tied with five other Knights for the fifth-most in program history.

Now 9-9 on the year and 5-6 against PacWest opponents, Fresno Pacific was led by Jasmine Heu's 12 points.

A first time ever facing Menlo is on tap next for ART U as the Urban Knights meet the Oaks this Saturday, Jan. 25 at 1 p.m. in Atherton.