Box Score

Photo Gallery (images by Austin McKeon)

San Francisco, CA – Sophomore forward Alisa Griggs and the Urban Knights were absolute monsters on the boards Monday night as the ART U stifled Dominican 90-46 inside Kezar Pavilion. Academy of Art University, #1 in the PacWest standings going into the game and now owners of a seven-game win streak, collectively ripped down 82 rebounds to demolish the previous school record of 57 rebounds set last year against Hawaii Pacific. By way of an 18-0 first half run which would continue into 24-2 bridging the first and second periods, the Knights amassed a 30-point advantage and later pushed that even further. Griggs set a new program record with 23 rebounds and tied her career-high with 21 points to lead the way.

“We wanted to focus on our transition game and that starts with rebounding," head coach LaNay Larson said. "I thought we did a good job on the defensive boards, it starts with getting stops and a rebound and pushing the ball. I liked that we had all five players on the floor running hard, it makes us much harder to guard.”

Though Dominican had a two-point margin to start things off, ART U would go up 4-2 and never relinquish the lead the rest of the way. Junior center Juliua Fraser got after it right away as she scored the Knights' first points and then promptly stole the ball to enable Griggs' first basket. Junior guard Nicol Biesek nailed a 3-pointer and Academy of Art was rolling to the tune of what would become a 17-2 run after the Penguins' early advantage. Griggs scored six consecutive points in that span with Biesek and junior forward Ariel Dale contributing later on.

After being up by 13, the Knights' margin dropped to six as DUC made a run (8-1), but freshman center Alexandria Coleman calmly put in two free throws to slow down the Penguins. Senior guard Lorraine Etchell then connected on a triple and that was the final time in which the game would be a single-digit difference. The ART U bench delivered more scoring punch as junior guard Jordan Rogers hit a jumper and then freshman guard Vianai Austin scored three quick points along with steady production from Dale.

With the score 32-18, Academy of Art turned on another gear to close out the half. Etchell dropped in her second triple to spark an 18-0 surge which featured offensive contributions from five different Urban Knights. Griggs had two more layups in the final two minutes of the half before a Dominican basket made the score 50-20 at the intermission.

“I didn't feel like we shot the ball particularly well, especially the second half, and you can't always control that," Coach Larson said. "I felt like we did a good job of counteracting that with offensive rebounding and that is a stat that you can control with effort.”

ART U crashed the boards like no other early in the second period and used aggressive defense to limit the Penguins' opportunities to score. A 6-0 Knights run was spread out over the first five minutes in which DUC went 0-for-8 from the field. Academy of Art kept its lead right around 30 points for much of that middle stretch before unleashing another burst in the final five minutes of the contest. Austin started things off with a 3-pointer then senior guard Devin London, who contributed significantly to ART U's 26-5 second-chance points margin, began dishing out the assists to her teammates. She hit Dale, Fraser, and Austin in succession and soon it was more than a 40-point difference. The final score of 90-46 was simply the end result of a game which had been all but decided far earlier.

Academy of Art University, who improves to 12-6 overall and 8-2 in the PacWest, topped its previous school record of 57 rebounds (at Hawaii Pacific this season) by more than 24 with the 82 it collected Monday night. Griggs' seventh double-double of the season was a super-sized one with 23 rebounds (11 on the offensive glass) and 21 points. The 23 boards were six more than ART U's previous record of 17 set by Jessica Nolan on two occasions. Offensively, Griggs' 21 points tied her career-high which she set earlier this season against Western Oregon (Nov. 26).

“Alisa had a monster game, the stats speak for themselves," Coach Larson said. "She just outworks people and always gives great effort so I couldn't be happier for her to have a game like that.”

Dale stuffed the stat sheet once again and nearly logged a triple double on this occasion. She had 14 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists with three steals to boot.

“Ariel struggled a little bit finishing shots, but she made up for that in other categories," Coach Larson said. "Her assists and rebounds were huge and being that close to a triple double shows how versatile she is.”

London finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, and five assists while Biesek went for a career-high 14 rebounds, seven points, and five assists. Biesek also tied the program's single-season record for blocked shots set by Levalasi Key with her one rejection on Monday.

Austin and Etchell added 10 points apiece for an ART U bench who outscored Dominican 30-17. Etchell also reached the 100 steal mark with her two thefts in this one, becoming just the second ART U player to ever go triple digits after Sondra Stilwell. Finally, in her ninth start of the season, Fraser grabbed eight rebounds and put in six points. As a team, the Urban Knights' 82 rebounds was a single-game record for the PacWest's modern era (since 2006) and ART U's rebounding margin of 51 was reasonably close to the NCAA Division II record of 66 which ironically came when Humboldt State also faced Dominican on Nov. 24, 1990.

“I had to look twice at the stat sheet after the game," Coach Larson said. "I knew that we were capable of dominating the boards, but to go out and put up those numbers says a lot for how hard the girls worked.”

Heating up from long range, Dominican's Kayla Valentine led her team with 16 points including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. She was the only Penguin to score in double figures as Taki Te Koi (seven points, five rebounds) and Melissa Wise (six points, five rebounds) also chipped. DUC falls to 3-16 overall, 2-7 in PacWest competition.

ART U women's basketball will be back in action this Thursday, Feb. 2 when the Knights travel to Belmont, CA to take on Notre Dame de Namur. Tipoff is set for 5:30 PM inside the Argonauts' Walter Gleason Gym.