FRESNO, Calif. – Thrive and advance.

The seventh consecutive victory for #3 seed Academy of Art women's basketball saw early dominance turn into a 77-62 triumph over #7 seed Point Loma in the semifinals of the Pacific West Conference Championship Tournament on Friday inside Fresno Pacific's Special Events Center. The way was led by freshman guard Brooke Rodgers who scored three of her career-high 22 points during the Urban Knights' 8-0 run to end the opening quarter from which they never looked back. As a result, ART U will make the program's third appearance in a PacWest title game tomorrow afternoon.

"You learn to trust the process," said Head Coach Krystle Evans. "Our team says we bend, we don't break. We've had every opportunity to break, but we've been bending and bending and bending and these young ladies are playing in the championship tomorrow."

Strong offensive rebounding helped Academy of Art to an eventual 3-pointer from junior guard Lauryn Manns on its first possession and soon freshman guard Milan Tuttle added another triple. Five straight from the Sea Lions had them up 9-6, but seven unanswered from the Knights including another Tuttle 3-pointer shifted back the momentum. In the final two and half minutes of the opening quarter, freshman forward/center Christy Ojide scored a layup, junior guard Chanel Stuart connected from long range, and Rodgers converted a three-point play to give ART U a 21-11 advantage.

Neither side scored for the first two minutes of the second frame, but soon Manns offered a putback, Stuart hit another triple, and Rodgers put in two free throws to keep the margin at double digits. Though PLNU worked it down to a six-point difference in the final minutes of the half, Academy of Art continued to have answers with freshman forward/center Alisha Wilson and Rodgers both getting into the paint for an eventual 34-25 lead at the break.

ART U achieved its largest lead to that point in the contest at 44-30 after Stuart finished a three-point play, Rodgers knocked down free throws, and Manns dialed one up from distance during an 8-2 run. The margin was down to six points less than two minutes later, but a Rodgers layup to end the third then a Tuttle triple to start the fourth returned it to a double-digit affair.

Point Loma came as close as seven points with six and a half minutes left only to be hit with seven straight from the Knights. The game was put out of reach when Tuttle scored seven points of an 11-0 run in the final two minutes before the final buzzer sounded with Academy of Art on top 77-62.

ART U matches the third-highest win total in program history with now an 18-9 overall record. Splitting her career-high 22 points evenly across both halves, Rodgers finished shooting 6-for-11 from the field and converted 10 free throws. The Writing for Film, Television, & Digital Media added seven rebounds, four assists, and one steal.

"Brooke Rodgers has been the glue for our team the entire season," Evans said. "This young lady has started every single game of her career here at Academy of Art. She guards the opposing team's top offensive players every game and she also penetrates and kicks. People underestimate how exhausting and how important that is. I tell Brooke all the time, 'Glue is not seen.' When you glue something right, people only see the outside of that project and they take for granted something that's holding that together. This young lady holds this team together and I'm just so proud of her to get the recognition she deserves today."

Along with Rodgers' breakout performance, Tuttle was two off her season-high with 18 points including a 4-for-8 effort from long range, seven rebounds, and two steals. Manns knocked down a pair of triples in her 16 points while Stuart hit three 3-pointers en route to 15 points plus seven rebounds and three assists. Ojide finished with eight rebounds and three blocks in 21 minutes off the bench.

"One of the best things about the PacWest was that we had the privilege of playing last year," Evans said. "Those seven games for the four freshmen who played gave us a maturity that we would not have had if we didn't play a year ago. This year, we've learned from our mistakes [managing games] and have a core young group who have helped players like Alisha and Milan throughout to manage games. We weren't stalling, we were just being strategic and intentional with our shot selection."

Having fallen to Academy of Art three times this season, Point Loma drops to 15-14 overall. Cara Liggins paced the Sea Lions with 19 points and seven rebounds.

Awaiting ART U in tomorrow's PacWest Championship game will be #1 seed No. 13 Azusa Pacific who came from behind to defeat #5 seed Biola 85-71. The final contest of the tournament is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.