Box Score

Photo Gallery (images by Austin McKeon & Hailey Archambault)

San Francisco, CA -- The Academy of Art University Urban Knights continued their dominance this season, remaining undefeated after topping University of Nebraska at Kearney 72-62 on Sunday afternoon at Kezar Pavilion. In another balanced attack, ART U scored 21 points off turnovers in the first half and never trailed once again. For the second consecutive game, five Knights scored in double figures led by senior Ariel Dale's 15 points and freshman Regina Camera's season-high 14 points.

“Getting off to a good start always begins with our defensive pressure,” head coach LaNay Larson said. “It's about being aggressive, forcing turnovers, and getting some easy baskets then it's crucial for us to get those big leads.”

Finding their groove early on for the fourth consecutive game, Academy of Art got started with a 3-pointer by senior Jordan Rogers before a trey from Camera provided the fuel for a 10-2 opening burst. UNK came back to make it 10-7, but that is the closest they would come because a layup by freshman Jasmin Guinn started a run of 13 unanswered points in which Dale had three steals and freshman Sha'Nice Storey and senior Nicol Biesek got in on the scoring.

Biesek's triple made it 23-7 and the double digit advantage would be maintained for the rest of the half. A nice moment came late in the period when All-PacWest Second Team recipient Alisa Griggs checked in for the first time this season and immediately grabbed a rebound.

“It's great to have balance on offense and I feel like our team is very unselfish,” Coach Larson said. “Seven or eight players could lead us in scoring on any night so I feel like we have a lot of offensive threats and, with Alisa back in the lineup, that's going to make us even deeper.”

Freshman Zoie Sheng was orchestrating the offense perfectly as she found Camera for a long ball with 1:24 left for one of her three assists in the first half. To end the period, Guinn was the beneficiary of a halfcourt shot from Biesek that bounced off the backboard, came into her hands as she hung in the air, and her put-back beat the buzzer to give ART U a 37-24 lead.

A 5-0 run by the Lopers started the second period and made it an eight-point margin. ART U responded with baskets by Dale, Storey, and Rogers then proceeded to convert at the foul line to build back the lead. Storey was fouled on a shot beyond the arc and tossed in all three free throws to put her squad up 49-35 midway through. Those points initiated a 10-0 push that included a number of high-percentage shots.

Despite their deficit, UNK did not give in and followed with a 10-2 run of its own. The Knights were not out of the woods yet and Guinn had a big layup at 7:14 to stop the Lopers' streak. With just over three minutes to go, Sheng provided the dagger: a 3-pointer in the corner that put ART U up 17. Nebraska Kearney attempted a late comeback, but Sheng's basket made the margin to great and Academy of Art attained its fourth consecutive win to start the 2012-13 season by a final of 72-62.

“I would have liked to finish the game a bit stronger, but the fact that we were able to build a 20-point lead and really maintain that took a little pressure off of us at the end,” Coach Larson said.

Once again showing their versatility, the Urban Knights featured five players scoring in double figures. Dale, who had four steals in the first half, finished with 15 points, eight rebounds (six offensive), and seven steals (one shy of her career-high and the program record she tied last season). Camera added new season-highs of 14 points and nine rebounds (five offensive) to go with three steals. Three others, Rogers, Guinn, and Storey, chipped in 10 points apiece. Rogers had five rebounds and five assists as well.

“We've stressed [rebounding] all week at practice and a lot of it is forcing us to box out,” Camera said. “We've struggled with that in our past games so, in these last two games, our main focus has been to be more aggressive on rebounds.”

The Lopers, who drop to 2-2, had the game-high of 18 points from Laramey Lewis.  Melissa Norman contributed the only double-double of the afternoon with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but also had five of the 32 UNK turnovers in the contest.

ART U now heads out on the road for its annual Thanksgiving tournament in the coming week. The Knights travel to Nampa, Idaho for Northwest Nazarene's Hampton Inn Classic. There, they will face host NNU on Friday, Nov. 23 and then Central Washington on Saturday, Nov. 24.

“It feels great [to be 4-0] and I'm excited for the Thanksgiving tournament,” Camera said. “We have some good competition. I'm looking forward to keeping our winning streak up and going 6-0.”