FRESNO, Calif. – The most memorable night of Karleigh Joseph's Academy of Art career came Wednesday inside Fresno Pacific's Special Events Center. From posting an extremely efficient 31 points (21 in the second half alone) to doing a little bit of everything else both offensively and defensively, the junior guard helped keep ART U alive in the Pacific West Conference rematch. Ultimately, however, the Sunbirds managed to outscore the Urban Knights in each of the four quarters to secure the 96-82 victory.

FPU got to the basket early and often, jumping out to a 9-2 lead to start, but long-range baskets by junior guards Josselyn Morris and Brianna Cates would soon make it a 10-10 ballgame. Joseph provided offense in the later part of the first quarter, but a pair of layups in the final 21 seconds put Fresno Pacific ahead 22-16 moving into quarter two.

An 11-2 Sunbirds surge over the middle of the second quarter resulted in a double-digit advantage and that would expand to a 16-point margin in the final minute before a jumper by freshman guard Chanel Stuart with six seconds left cut it to 47-33 at halftime.

Starting the third quarter, Joseph shined in the second half. She began with a three-point play on ART U's second possession then had two more before the quarter was over. Though Fresno Pacific gained a 68-48 lead with three minutes left, a triple by Joseph was later helped by a steal and a score. Four Fresno Pacific free throws in the final six seconds slowed down the Academy of Art momentum, bringing it to a 74-59 contest heading to the final frame.

Having already surpassed her previous career-high, Joseph kept her own offensive run going with a layup in the opening seconds of the fourth while junior forward Ines Medina added four more points for a 6-0 run. Nine points was as close as the Knights would get, however, as a 9-3 response came from FPU. Joseph would have her fourth three-point play conversion down the stretch, but the Sunbirds ended up prevailing 96-82.

The day's result puts Academy of Art at 3-14 overall and 2-12 in PacWest action. Joseph's 31 points were the most by an Urban Knight this season, tied for the sixth-most in program history, and crushed her previous high of 22 points set nearly two years ago against Notre Dame de Namur on Feb. 6, 2017. She would connect on 11 of her 18 shot attempts from the field and finished a perfect 8-of-8 from the foul line. Finally, Joseph added four rebounds, three assists, and three steals all in 35 minutes off the bench.

"Karleigh was unstoppable," said head coach Camille Williams. "It was exciting to see her create from her defensive effort and make plays on offense. Karleigh has been through a lot having overcome injuries and, as coaches and her teammates, we were ecstatic to see her perform on both ends of the court."

Joseph was one of four Urban Knights who scored in double figures along with Cates (19 points), Medina (whose 13 points paired with 10 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the year), and Stuart (11 points).

Fresno Pacific improves to 14-6 on the season and 10-4 in conference play with the victory. All five Sunbird starters scored in double figures led by 22 points from Ashley Cross. Cassie Pisik added an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double.

ART U will start the month of February this Friday with a 5:30 tip-off hosting Dominican inside Kezar Pavilion.

"We are looking forward to building confidence from our upcoming home game," said Williams. "It's great to see different players step up at different times and I'm proud of our team for coming together."