HONOLULU – All tied up with eight minutes left in regulation, Monday's Pacific West Conference women's basketball battle between Academy of Art and Hawaii Pacific swung the way of the Sharks after a 9-0 run. The Urban Knights would then cut the margin down to five with one minute still on the clock, but time ran out on a comeback inside Moanalua High School and HPU prevailed 65-61.

ART U built a six-point lead in the first five minutes, but Hawaii Pacific came back to tie multiple times before going up 17-16 by the end of the first quarter. The teams were not separated by more than three points until late in the opening half and even then it was not for long.

Back-to-back layups by junior guard Rodericka Ware took the Knights from down two to up two, but the game became a shootout in the final two minutes. A pair of 3-pointers by Hawaii Pacific put the home team ahead by four, however, senior guard Alana Simon provided the answer with a triple of her own to make it a one-point affair at the half.

A 12-4 Sharks run came early in the second half, but it was freshman forward Elle Williams who sent Academy of Art into the fourth with the momentum of a made basket in the waning seconds of the third. Junior guard Jazzlynn Brewster converted a three-point play and soon junior forward Helena Orts converted consecutive baskets to tie the game 52-52.

Though ART U had opportunities at the foul line in the minutes that followed, Hawaii Pacific continued to extend its advantage to 61-52 by the four-minute mark. Rebounding was key down the stretch for the Sharks yet two quick baskets bookending a steal by Simon approaching the final minute made it only a five-point game. The Knights were forced to resort to a foul strategy as the game reached its finale, but HPU ended up holding on to win 65-61.

Now 13-11 overall and 9-7 in conference play, ART U maintains one less loss than Dominican for the sixth and final spot in the PacWest Conference Tournament with four games to play. Ware finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists in 34 minutes off the bench while Orts added 16 points and seven rebounds.

For Hawaii Pacific, who moves to 18-4 overall and 15-2 in PacWest action, Jessi Reeves stood out with 15 points plus eight rebounds and Sara Liva came off the bench to grab a game-high 13 rebounds in 22 minutes.

The Urban Knights close out their Hawaiian roadtrip this Wednesday, Feb. 15 with a 5 p.m. HT (8 p.m. PT) tipoff at BYU-Hawaii in Laie.