FRESNO, Calif. – Despite capitalizing on the most turnovers from an Academy of Art women's basketball opponent in three years, the Urban Knights' 2020-21 season opener saw them fall 68-51 to Fresno Pacific inside the Special Events Center on Saturday.

Both teams struggled to find an offensive rhythm from tipoff as they combined to go 0-for-18 from the field initially. Four minutes in, however, freshman guard Brooke Rodgers broke the drought with a layup and ART U led while FPU wound up beginning with 13 misses from the floor and four turnovers.

As the scoring picked up to finish the first quarter and into the second, a 10-0 Sunbirds run put the home team ahead 24-15 midway through. Consecutive fastbreak buckets by redshirt sophomore forward Hailey McCoy and redshirt freshman guard Kaila Murrell closed the gap, but it remained double digits with under a minute left. In the waning seconds, junior guard Chanel Stuart grabbed a rebound and heaved a shot from half court which found the bottom of the net, making it a manageable 32-24 lead for FPU at the break.

Fresno Pacific started the second half on a 15-4 run, but the end of the third quarter saw layups by Rodgers, Murrell, and freshman guard Alyssa Munn combine for a 7-2 response and the margin was 13 points moving to the fourth. In that quarter, the Sunbirds were able to maintain their advantage despite four more turnovers and walked away with a 68-51 victory.

ART U starts its season 0-1 both overall and in conference action. Stuart, Rodgers, and Munn finished with 10 points apiece with Stuart adding three steals and Munn contributing three assists. Junior guard Lauryn Manns and McCoy each had six rebounds with the latter notching a game-high four steals. The 25 turnovers forced were the most by an ART U opponent since Stanislaus State committed 26 miscues on Dec. 15, 2017.

Completing its second week of conference action, FPU improves to 3-2 overall and 3-0 in PacWest play. Rachel Berry ended the contest with game-highs of 20 points and 15 rebounds while Bayli McClard added 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Currently slated to face Dominican next, ART U will match up with the Penguins on back-to-back days this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 12-13.