Box Score
San Francisco, Calif. (1/10/09) -- The Academy of Art University women's basketball team sustained a tough 64-60 loss at the hands of Simpson University (3-14) on Saturday night at Kezar Pavilion. Although it was a mid-season exhibition game, the atmosphere and competition was anything but relaxed. After going up by as many as 16 points in the opening period, AAU found itself in a dogfight when the Redhawks battled back and eventually took the game with a critical layup with only 33 seconds left in the game. Junior point guard
Sondra Stilwell stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, seven rebounds , five assists and five steals while senior forward
Levalasi Key scored 16 points and pulled down 18 rebounds, the most in her career as an Urban Knight.
Academy of Art University jumped out to a fantastic start with nine steals (five of which were
Stilwell's) in the first nine minutes and a 22-6 advantage with 8:12 remaining in the first half. However, the Redhawks sank three 3-pointers as part of a 0-15 run that brought them right back into the game. The Urban Knights would not relinquish the lead as Simpson came only as close as two points with 1:13 left in the half and
Key nailed a jumper at the end of regulation to give her squad some momentum heading into the second half.
In the following period, AAU would play without junior guard
Jacqui Heck who left the contest with a leg injury. The Knights lead hovered around eight points until a 0-11 run by the Redhawks, which came primarily at the free throw line, allowed the visitors to take their first lead of the game with 12:06 left to play. Academy of Art University battled back and took a three-point advantage with a 3-pointer by
Stilwell at the 7:51 mark, but Simpson University's Paige Barrett soon answered back with a long ball of her own.
This back-and-forth style would continue late into the game as another four-point Urban Knights lead evaporated into the sixth tie of the afternoon, 57-57 with 1:34 on the clock. Coming out of a timeout,
Stilwell found junior guard
Caprice Hall for a 3-pointer, but Kayla Rackley answered back with a long-range bomb of her own just seconds later. So with the scored tied again at 60-60, AAU watched a turnover by freshman point guard
Lorraine Etchell turn into a layup on the other end with 33 seconds left to play. Another second turnover, this one by
Key, forced the Knights into the foul game and eventually resulted in the 60-64 final on the scoreboard.
The Urban Knights had the aforementioned
Stilwell and
Key as their only two players who scored in double figures, but senior guard
Ali Tyson-Taufoou came close to a triple-double with eight points, six rebounds and seven steals. Hall had seven points off the bench followed by five points from both
Etchell and freshman guard
Vanessa Wilkins.
The Simpson University Redhawks were led by Elizabeth Thomas who finished with 17 points, six rebounds and was 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Backing her up were Kayla Rackley (12 points) and Shanel Keser (11 points, three steals).
Neither team shot well from the field (AAU 35.4%, SU 36.4%), but an 86.4% (19-of-22) Simpson University free throw percentage compared to 66.7% (10-of-15) for the Knights may have been the biggest difference in the game. Since this was an exhibition game, it does not affect either team's record so AAU still stands at 2-12 while the Redhawks are 3-14.
Academy of Art University will now have a six-day break before heading to Lacey, WA to face St. Martin's University on Friday, Jan. 16 followed by a home game the following night against Cal State East Bay as part of a Kezar Pavilion back-to-back with the AAU men's team.
