Game #1
ART U Urban Knights (0-0) vs. Saint Martin's Saints (0-0)
Friday, November 8, 2013 at 5:00 PM
Monmouth, OR – New PE Building
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #2
ART U Urban Knights (0-0) vs. Western Oregon Wolves (0-0)
Saturday, November 9, 2013 at 2:00 PM
Monmouth, OR – New PE Building
Live Stats

URBAN KNIGHTS TO FACE SAINTS, WOLVES IN OPENING TOURNEY
Coming off a Thursday announcement that they have been selected to finish first overall by coaches around the Pacific West Conference, Academy of Art University Women's Basketball makes its 2013-14 debut at the Western Oregon/Double Tree by Hilton D2 Shootout this weekend. ART U looks to build off the most successful season in program history, matching up with Saint Martin's for its season opener then host Western Oregon on Saturday. Full 2013-14 season preview HERE!

OPENING TIP
The tip-off to the regular season will be Friday, Nov. 8 inside WOU's New PE Building in Monmouth, OR. The Urban Knights kick things off at 5:00 PM against Saint Martin's then come back the next day, Nov. 9, for a 2:00 PM pairing with Western Oregon. Live Stats and Live Video will be available at the links above. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

ART U SLATED TO FINISH FIRST OVERALL IN PACWEST
In the 2013-14 Preseason PacWest Women's Basketball Coaches Poll, Academy of Art was chosen first overall with six of 13 first place votes. The Knights received a total of 159 votes with Azusa Pacific's 145 points (three first place votes) putting them in second. Also earning top votes, California Baptist (140) and Hawaii Pacific (139) were in a tight race for the third and fourth spots. For complete release, go HERE!


WOMEN'S HOOPS COLLECTS VOTES ON NATIONAL POLL
After receiving votes on the USA TODAY Sports Division II Top 25 women's basketball poll the first seven times it was released last season, Academy of Art University Women's Basketball made its debut with 58 votes in this year's preseason release as determined by the USA Sports board of coaches, 33 members of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). Read more HERE!

KNIGHT WATCH
One of the most balanced teams in the PacWest and the NCAA DII leader in turnover margin last season, Academy of Art remains as quick and versatile as ever. 2013-14 Preseason All-PacWest selections Regina Camera and Sha'Nice Storey (the only pair from the same team) are poised to take the next step after freshman campaigns that saw them combine for 19.3 points, 3.0 3-pointers made, and 3.6 steals per game. Lone senior Alisa Griggs returns after playing an efficient 14 minutes per game with averages of nearly eight points and five rebounds and the highest field goal percentage on the team in 2012-13. New additions such as Division I transfers Krystal Forthan, Aleigh Krug, and Molly O'Brien will make for an incredibly athletic squad with a collectively high basketball IQ. In the back court, Zoie Sheng (1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio) and Jasmin Guinn (1.5 steals per game) provide both stability and explosiveness in the fast-paced style the Urban Knights play.

THE STATE OF THE SAINTS
Saint Martin's University returns nine players from the 2012-13 team who averaged 10 or more minutes per game last season and eight of those players made an appearance in the starting lineup. SMU finished just one spot out of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament last season with a record of 12-16 overall and 5-13 in GNAC. At the center of the 2013-14 squad is the lone senior Chelsea Haskey, a 6-1 forward who earned Second Team All-GNAC honors last season. She returns as both the Saints' leading rebounder and scorer from averaging 14.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game which ranked her in the top 10 in both categories in the GNAC.

SMU was picked eighth in the conference preseason poll and returns a scoring offense that ranked last in the GNAC with 55.1 points per game led to a scoring margin of -5.9. The Saints were good from three-point range, notching a percentage of .332, but shot just .368 overall from the floor, the lowest in the conference. In three exhibitions to start the year, Saint Martin's fell to Oregon State 100-39 then defeated University of Puget Sound 63-52 and The Evergreen State College 70-63. The Knights and Saints have met three times in their history with SMU holding a 2-1 advantage.

WESTSIDE PRIDE
Picked to finish eighth in the preseason, Western Oregon is coming off of an 8-20 overall season, 3-15 finish in the GNAC, and welcomes new head coach Holli Howard-Carpenter for her first season with the Wolves. Howard-Carpenter joined WOU from Cal State East Bay where she helped lead a turnaround of the Pioneers' women's basketball program as they finished 2012-13 season with an overall mark of 16-11, the best record for the program since the 2005-06.

Defensively, no GNAC school was better than WOU in terms of defending perimeter shots, as the Wolves' opponent three-point percentage was a conference-low .291. Dana Goularte saw regular playing time during her sophomore campaign last season, starting 22 contests and averaging 9.7 points. The forward also led the team in blocks with 28, co-led the team with 5.7 rebounds per contest, and was amongst team leaders in shooting percentage with a mark of .398. Western Oregon was bested by University of Oregon 103-58 in its only exhibition contest this season. In the most recent of two historical meetings between ART U and WOU last year, the Knights trumped the Wolves 81-53 led by Sha'Nice Storey's eight steals that tied a single-game program record.

2012-13 SEASON IN REVIEW
The 2012-13 season for Academy of Art University will be forever remembered as a milestone in this program's history. With victories over ranked opponents, a nine-game win streak culminating in a Pacific West Conference Tournament Championship, and a trip to the NCAA Tournament in ART U's first eligible year, the winningest campaign since the program began back in 2008 was something second-year head coach LaNay Larson and her band of Urban Knights believed achievable from day one. Read more HERE!

LOOKING AHEAD
The WOU/Double Tree by Hilton D2 Shootout is the first of three tournaments ART U will play in its non-conference season with the second coming next week in San Francisco. For the first time in program history, Academy of Art will host the CCAA/PacWest Challenge which features matchups between the Knights and Humboldt State (Nov. 16 – home debut) and Cal State East Bay (Nov. 17).