Box Score
Photo Gallery (images by Rob Garcia)

Honolulu, HI – Continuing their record-breaking Hawaii roadtrip, the Urban Knights never trailed in a 91-49 domination of Chaminade Wednesday evening inside McCabe Gymnasium. The story of the night was freshman Sha'Nice Storey breaking both the program scoring (31 points) and the single-game record for 3-pointers made (eight) in a game where Academy of Art University went up 20 in the first half and doubled the advantage in the second. ART U is now 12-3 overall and rises to 5-0 in Pacific West Conference play after the program's second consecutive season sweeping its tour through Hawaii.

"[Setting the scoring record] feels really good!" Storey said. "I'm really happy with my shooting performance tonight! I don't know [how to explain it], I was just really pumped up after hitting my first couple of threes."

Storey wasted little time getting her team in front of the opposition by knocking down a pair of 3-pointers in a 30-second span in the early going. She added a fastbreak layup, buried another triple, and converted another breakaway off the pass from senior Nicol Biesek to explode for 13 points in essentially the first four minutes.

Up 13-4 at that point, the Urban Knights faced a Chaminade response in the form of an 8-2 run which cut their lead to five, but senior Katy Wade got the squad going once again with a layup. Four points from freshman Regina Camera followed by two baskets for junior Alisa Griggs strengthened what became a 10-0 ART U run to go further ahead, 31-14.

"I thought our defense in the half and full court tonight was aggressive and more disciplined," head coach LaNay Larson said. "We talked about staying focused. Chaminade is a much-improved team and we know we can't overlook anyone."

As the half came to a close, Storey struck again with her fourth triple of the period thanks to one of freshman Zoie Sheng's career-high eight assists. A Biesek jumper and free throws by Sheng herself put the Knights on top by 21 briefly before the Silverswords cut it to 17 at the half.

Coming out of the break up 40-23, Biesek quickly put in four points on a Biesek layup and jumper before Storey hit her fifth shot from beyond the arc to make it a 20-point advantage again. Griggs then went to work inside, scoring the next seven points herself primarily in the paint. A layup by senior Juliua Fraser made it 56-30 ART U and soon the lead became 30 points fittingly thanks to a jumper by Storey and yet another 3-pointer to tie the single-game program record and give her a new career-high.

The Urban Knights did not stop there, however, as the run became 15-0 with defense fueling offense such as the case of Wade's block turning into a Camera layup with 7:32 to play. In what seemed like a matter of seconds, ART U surged even further ahead with a banked-in triple from Storey, a layup by Wade, and the NBA-range 3-pointer which gave Storey eight in total.


Leading 80-41 with just over five minutes to play at that point, the remainder of the game became a moot point. Academy of Art would not pick up its fifth PacWest victory to stay undefeated, but this 91-49 win made Coach Larson a perfect 7-0 in Hawaii dating back to the Knights' trip to the islands in her inaugural year at the helm in 2011-12.

“Going 7-0 in Hawaii over the last two years is a tribute to how hard the girls have worked and their ability to stay focused and battle through what is a very challenging road trip,” Coach Larson said. “We were short-handed this year and especially tonight so it was key that our bench stepped up and contributed. It makes us a stronger, deeper team which will be key down the stretch.”

Storey's 31 points surpassed the previous program record of 29 originally set by Nicole DeRosier and then tied by Devin London last year. She was 11-of-16 (68.8%) from the field and connected on eight shots from long range, topping the previous single-game high of six reached several times including once by Jordan Rogers on this same Hawaii roadtrip. Storey added two rebounds, two steals, and an assist in the victory.

“Sha'Nice has had a great freshman year and tonight put the exclamation point on it,” Coach Larson said. “She always plays hard on both ends of the court and tonight her shot selection and execution on offense was outstanding. She is doing amazing things early on and is only going to get better.”

After the game, Storey also spoke up for “Maxwell,” an oversized monkey the team won at Dave & Busters prior to the contest, who has quickly become the unofficial team mascot.

“Maxwell was a huge factor,” Storey said. “Coach had said if we didn't play well we would have to leave him in Hawaii. We couldn't let that happen to our new addition to the family!”


Academy of Art, who moves to 12-3 overall and 5-0 in PacWest play, held Chaminade to the fewest points by an ART U opponent this season (49) below the 53 Western Oregon scored on Dec. 13. A big night came from Camera who finished with 17 points, four rebounds, and three assists while Wade added her fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 15 rebounds along with four assists, three blocks, and one steal. Griggs contributed 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Sheng delivered eight assists to go with four rebounds and four steals complementing Biesek's eight points and four assists.

Chaminade falls to 1-9 overall and 1-4 in PacWest action. The Silveswords had 10 points apiece from Rhani Kaneaiakala and Shana Kawakami. Markeshia Manning added six points and eight rebounds off the bench, but also fouled out of the contest.

With its Hawaii roadtrip now complete, ART U returns for a three-game homestand in which the Urban Knights face UH Hilo (Jan. 19), Hawaii Pacific (Jan. 21), and Chaminade (Jan. 26).