Game #4
ART U Urban Knights (2-1, 0-1 PWC) vs. Chaminade Silverswords (0-6, 0-1 PWC)
Sunday, December 15, 2019 at 1 p.m.
San Francisco – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats & Live Video
Game #5
ART U Urban Knights (2-1) vs. Central Washington Wildcats (5-3)
Tuesday, December 17, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.
Ellensburg, Wash. – Nicholson Pavilion
Live Stats & Live Video
Game #6
ART U Urban Knights (2-1) vs. Seattle Pacific Falcons (0-8)
Thursday, December 19, 2019 at 2 p.m.
Seattle – Brougham Pavilion
Live Stats | Live Video
Game #7
ART U Urban Knights (2-1, 0-1 PWC) vs. NDNU Argonauts (2-6, 0-2 PWC)
Saturday, December 21, 2019 at 1 p.m.
San Francisco – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats & Live Video
FIRST HOME GAMES SANDWICH PAIR IN WASHINGTON
What will be a busy week for Academy of Art women's basketball commences this Sunday as the Urban Knights host Chaminade, travel north to play Central Washington and Seattle Pacific, then return for more Pacific West Conference action hosting Notre Dame de Namur.
OPENING TIP
ART U's first home game of the year takes place this Sunday, Dec. 15 versus Chaminade inside Kezar Pavilion with tipoff set for 1 p.m. One of two stops in Washington, Academy of Art next plays Central Washington inside Nicholson Pavilion on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 7:30 p.m. The trip concludes at Seattle Pacific on Thursday, Dec. 19 with a 2 p.m. tip inside Brougham Pavilion. Back home at Kezar Pavilion, the Urban Knights match up with Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 1 p.m. Live coverage will be available via the links above. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights via the athletics app (
Apple App Store,
Google Play Store) and on
Twitter &
Instagram as well as "Like" the
Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.
KNIGHT WATCH
Currently leading the PacWest in field goal percentage (.481, 32nd in NCAA DII) and second in steals (11.3 per game), Academy of Art carries multiple conference stat leaders. After scoring a season-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, junior guard
Pam Wilmore paces the PacWest with a .577 field goal percentage (32nd in NCAA DII) while graduate student guard
Tayler Bennett, still the conference's leader in three-point field goals made per game (3.0), ranks fourth with a .513 field goal percentage. Thus far, Wilmore and Bennett have combined to average 31.7 points of the Urban Knights' 71.3 points per game. Wilmore also comes in at fourth in the PacWest with 4.7 assists per game and Bennett (3.0) joins redshirt junior guard/forward
Lily Perkins (2.3) among the conference's top four in steals per game. After grabbing double-digit rebounds for the fifth time in her career with 10 versus Fresno Pacific, junior forward
Megan Jefferson leads ART U with 6.7 rebounds per game (11th in PacWest).
SWORDPLAY
One of two teams in the PacWest yet to record a victory on the season, Chaminade opened the year with a pair of losses in Alaska then dropped four straight at home including a 46-point loss to No. 8 Azusa Pacific most recently. Among the top 15 scorers in the conference, Destiny Castro leads the Silverswords at 13.2 points per game while adding the PacWest's fifth-most steals per game (2.2). Ahead of the 20th meeting of the two programs, ART U is 17-2 all-time against Chaminade.
CENTER OF ATTENTION
After finishing fourth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings last year, Central Washington came into 2019-20 as the favorite to win the title according to the preseason coaches poll. To date, the Wildcats have gone 5-3 with losses to Hawaii Pacific, Westminster, and MSU Denver, but two recent victories over Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin's to start GNAC play. CWU is slated to host Cal State Los Angeles this Saturday before meeting Academy of Art on Tuesday. The team offers four players who average double figures in scoring led by Alexis Pana's 15.6 points per game (fourth in GNAC) and the conference's field goal percentage leader Samantha Bowman's 13.3 points per game at a .612 clip. The Knights have met the Wildcats five times previously with the latter holding a slight 3-2 edge historically.
IN THE FALCON'S NEST
Like Chaminade, Seattle Pacific is also looking for its first win of the season after going 0-8 in a schedule that started with four games in California. The Falcons' closest opportunity was an eight-point loss to Azusa Pacific on Nov. 15, but like Central Washington, SPU will have one more shot before ART U with a Dec. 16 pairing hosting Cal State Los Angeles on the horizon. Seattle Pacific is led by Ashlynn Burgess' 12.1 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. In the Knights' 11-year history, they have never faced the Falcons before.
WANT TO AR-GO?
Notre Dame de Namur picked up its first two victories of the year on back-to-back days against Cal State East Bay (Nov. 15) and Stanislaus State (Nov. 16), but has otherwise sustained several close losses in a 2-6 record. The Argonauts will continue PacWest play with Hawaii Pacific (Dec. 14) and Chaminade (Dec. 19) before traveling to San Francisco for its Dec. 21 matchup against Academy of Art. Defense has been NDNU's calling card to date as they rank second in the PacWest, allowing opponents just 59.8 points per game. Cheyenne Jankulovski paces the Argos at 10.3 points per game, adding a team-best 6.8 rebounds per contest. ART U remains ahead 13-8 in its historical matchup with Notre Dame de Namur.
HOT START PUTS SUNBIRDS PAST ART U IN PACWEST DEBUT
Taking the court for its first Pacific West Conference matchup of the season on
Dec. 5, Academy of Art women's basketball was met with a big first quarter from Fresno Pacific inside the Special Events Center. Though the remainder of the contest was played relatively evenly, the initial margin guided FPU to a 95-63 victory.
LOOKING AHEAD
The matchup with NDNU marks the start of a four-part PacWest homestand for Academy of Art with Dominican (Dec. 31), Azusa Pacific (Jan. 2), and Concordia (Jan. 4) all coming to town.
