Game #13
ART U Urban Knights (9-3, 2-0 PWC) vs. HPU Sea Warriors (5-2, 1-0 PWC)
Saturday, January 5, 2013 at 7:00 PM HT (9:00 PM PT)
Honolulu, HI – Neal S. Blaisdell Center
Live Stats | Live Video/Audio (PPV)

Game #14
ART U Urban Knights (9-3, 2-0 PWC) vs. BYU-Hawaii Seasiders (1-7, 0-2 PWC)
Monday, January 7, 2013 at 5:00 PM HT (7:00 PM PT)
Laie, HI – Cannon Activities Center
Live Video

Game #15
ART U Urban Knights (9-3, 2-0 PWC) vs. Chaminade Silverswords (1-6, 1-2 PWC)
Wednesday, January 9, 2013 at 5:00 PM HT (7:00 PM PT)
Honolulu, HI – McCabe Gymnasium
Live Stats | Live Audio

KNIGHTS RESUME PACWEST PLAY ON HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
Having gone into the holiday break with a huge 82-73 win over #17 Pittsburgh State and a close battle with one of the top offensive teams in the country in Central Missouri, ART U Women's Basketball enters the New Year looking for victories in Hawaii. An undefeated 2-0 in Pacific West Conference play, Academy of Art University will be in action against Hawaii Pacific, BYU-Hawaii, and Chaminade during this week-long stay in Honolulu.

OPENING TIP
ART U starts off its Hawaii roadtrip with a matchup against Hawaii Pacific on Saturday, Jan. 5 inside the Neal S. Blaisdell Center. This will be the one time all season in which the women will play after the men hence the 7:00 PM HT (9:00 PM PT) tipoff. As they will for the entire trip, the Knights remain on Oahu and head around the island to BYU-Hawaii's Cannon Activities Center for a pairing on Monday, Jan. 7 at 5:00 PM HT (7:00 PM PT). The island journey concludes Wednesday, Jan. 9 when Academy of Art faces Chaminade inside McCabe Gymnasium at 5:00 PM HT (7:00 PM PT). Live Stats will be available for these games (see above). Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: DOMINANT DEFENSE
ART U maintained its stranglehold on the top NCAA Division II ranking for turnover margin (11.5) with its games in the Las Vegas Challenge. Thus far, the Knights have forced 333 turnovers while only committing 195 themselves. ART U also rose to fifth overall in the nation in steals per game average (15.5 spg) and sports a 78.2 points per game scoring average which is second in the Pacific West Conference and now 15th in the country. Adding to their nationally recognized marks, Academy of Art is averaging 5.4 blocks per game (12th in NCAA DII), a 0.97 assist-to-turnover ratio (38th in NCAA DII), and 15.8 assists per game (54th in NCAA DII).

KNIGHT WATCH
Leading the way in both games in Las Vegas, senior Jordan Rogers comes into the Hawaii trip as a recent Pacific West Conference Player of the Week. She is currently averaging 13.4 points (8th in PWC) and 5.7 rebounds per game confidently supported by the fourth highest free throw percentage (.800) in the PacWest thanks to a previous week in which she made 16 foul shots over two games. Following her breakout career-high 23 points against Pitt State, freshman Regina Camera was also recognized with a PacWest Weekly Fantastic 15 honor to end the 2012 calendar year. She has moved up to 26th in the PWC in scoring (10.3 ppg) and fourth overall in steals (2.6 spg). Senior Katy Wade, who has long since set the program's single-season blocks record (31), now ranks third in the PacWest in blocks (2.6 bpg) and seventh in rebounding (8.5 rpg).

SEA WARRIORS RIDING HIGH
After opening the season with a 73-61 defeat to Western Oregon, Hawaii Pacific soon avenged its loss to WOU and proceeded to go 5-1 the rest of the way. The Sea Warriors edged both Saint Martin's and the Wolves before participating in the Oahu Classic where they topped Adams State 59-40 and fell to then #18 ranked Augustana College (SD) 73-49. HPU then came out a 61-59 winner against UH Hilo in non-conference action and opened PacWest play with a 97-68 victory over BYU-Hawaii in Laie led by a career-high 34 points from Susannah Walmsley. The Sea Warriors most recently fell in a 72-62 exhibition game versus the University of Hawaii. Walmsley is just outside the Top 50 scorers in NCAA Division II with a 17.4 points per game average. She has done much of her damage from beyond the three-point arc this season with 18 3-pointers made while fellow sharpshooter Ieva Nagy adds 12.0 points per game (2.6 3PTM per game). Against BYUH, the team also returned Melody Ladrido (17 points) whom the Urban Knights remember not so fondly as she made the 3-pointer to send last year's contest at HPU into overtime. In that one, ART U held on for its first victory over the Sea Warriors in six tries.

SEASIDERS NAVIGATING ROUGH WATERS
BYU-Hawaii may sport a 1-7 overall record and a seven-game losing streak, but they also house one of the highest scorers in the nation with Shayla Washington's 19.4 points per game (leads PacWest). Following Washington's 36 points and an 84-63 victory over Oakland City (IN) to start the season, BYUH ran into several tough decisions starting with Shippensburg's 82-57 triumph in the Oahu Classic. From there, Minnesota State-Moorhead (68-52), the aforementioned Hawaii Pacific (97-68), Alaska Anchorage (100-68), Cal State Los Angeles (77-56), Eastern New Mexico (66-45), and Holy Names (115-98) all executed victories over the Seasiders. In addition to averaging 21.3 points per game, Washington is also just over 10 rebounds per game (2nd in PWC) and has five double-doubles thus far. In her 2012-13 debut most recently against HNU, Dixie State transfer Brydgette Tatupu-Leopoldo offered 25 points including five made 3-pointers. BYU-Hawaii is scheduled to face Notre Dame de Namur (Jan. 5) prior to meeting ART U on Jan. 7. The Knights are currently riding a five-game win streak en route to their 5-2 all-time record over the Seasiders.

A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD
Chaminade holds similar record to BYU-Hawaii at 1-6 overall thus far. Despite starting the season with a five-game losing streak, the Silverswords worked to right their ship with a 77-68 victory over Holy Names in their third PacWest contest of the year. Having fallen to UH Hilo (90-62), Adams State (72-53), Northwood (MI) (82-49), then Dixie State (86-56) and Grand Canyon (90-48) in conference play, Chaminade used a pair of 16-point efforts from Glacen Florita and Rhani Kaneaiakala to capture the win. Holy Names would stick around Honolulu for a non-conference rematch on Jan. 1 which the Hawks won 87-65. Kaneaikala currently paces the squad with 11.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while Nikki Tauau serves a key sixth woman role, averaging 9.0 points and 5.3 rebounds off the bench. CUH is scheduled to face HNU once more on Jan. 5 then welcomes Dominican on Jan. 7 prior to meeting ART U on Jan. 9. In seven meetings to date, the Knights are a perfect 7-0 versus Chaminade.

ART U TOPPLES #17 PITT STATE, SPLITS LAS VEGAS CHALLENGE
On Dec. 18, Academy of Art University women's basketball showed it was ready to contend with the elite, knocking off #17 Pittsburgh State 82-73 as part of Dixie State's Las Vegas Challenge. Led by a career-high 23 points from Camera and 20 points from Rogers inside Orleans Arena, the Urban Knights built a 42-30 halftime lead and used their signature pressure defense to score 24 points off turnovers in the win.

Less than 24 hours later on Dec. 19, ART U hung with Central Missouri, but ultimately fell 92-80 in the championship game of the tournament. A total of five Urban Knights scored in double figures, however, the Jennies connected on 13 shots from beyond the arc for the edge.

LOOKING AHEAD
When the Urban Knights return from Hawaii, they will open up a three-game homestand in which their island counterparts come to the Bay Area. ART U hosts UH Hilo (Jan. 19), Hawaii Pacific (Jan. 21), and Chaminade (Jan. 26) during this stretch.