AZUSA, Calif. – Battling the top-ranked team in the Pacific West Conference, Academy of Art University women's basketball fell to No. 17 Azusa Pacific 89-42 inside Felix Event Center on Thursday evening.

Although a basket by redshirt senior forward Pre'Franz Dominick started the game, APU built an 18-7 lead by the end of the first quarter after a five-minute scoring drought by the Urban Knights. The Cougars scored 15 points off 20 ART U turnovers in the opening half and used a 16-0 surge to establish their 43-20 difference at the break.

Following 10 unanswered by the Cougars early in the third quarter, the second half saw Azusa Pacific heat up from long range and the lead continued to grow toward APU's final 89-42 winning margin.

ART U drops to 0-7 overall and 0-1 in PacWest action. Sophomore forward Ines Medina and redshirt senior guard Jazzlynn Brewster shared the team-lead with nine points apiece while senior forward Helena Orts added a game-high 16 rebounds to tie her career-high.

The Cougars rises to 10-1 on the year and 1-0 in conference play after getting a program-record eight 3-pointers from Rachel Bozlee as part of her game-high 24 points.

Next up on Academy of Art's two-part roadtrip to start PacWest Conference play is a stop in St. George, Utah to play Dixie State this Saturday, Dec. 2. Tip-off is slated for 1:30 p.m. MT (12:30 p.m. PT).