Game #16
ART U Urban Knights (4-11, 4-6 PacWest) vs. Concordia Golden Eagles (12-4, 9-1 PacWest)
Thursday, January 19, 2023 at 5 p.m.
Belmont, Calif. – Walter Gleason Gym
Live Stats & Live Video

Game #17
ART U Urban Knights (4-11, 4-6 PacWest) vs. Point Loma Sea Lions (8-11, 6-5 PacWest)
Saturday, January 21, 2023 at 1 p.m.
Belmont, Calif. – Walter Gleason Gym
Live Stats & Live Video

Game #18
ART U Urban Knights (4-11, 4-6 PacWest) vs. Hawaii Pacific Sharks (8-7, 6-2 PacWest)
Tuesday, January 24, 2023 at 5 p.m.
Belmont, Calif. – Walter Gleason Gym
Live Stats & Live Video

ACADEMY OF ART SET TO HOST CUI, PLNU, HPU IN RETURN FROM HAWAII
Back in the Bay Area after spending nearly a week for three Pacific West Conference games in Hawaii, Academy of Art women's basketball will face some familiar foes in its upcoming homestand this week.

TIP-OFF
This Thursday, Jan. 19 sees ART U go up against Concordia for the second time in this season at 5 p.m. Two days later, it will be a rematch with Point Loma beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 21. Early the following week features another meeting with Hawaii Pacific set for Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 5 p.m. All games are set to take place inside Walter Gleason Gym in Belmont. 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
With double-digit offensive rebounds in five of its last seven games (including a season-best 22 at Holy Names on Dec. 30), Academy of Art has put itself now fifth in the PacWest in the category at 11.5 per contest. Additionally, the Urban Knights rank fourth in the conference in steals (8.7) and fifth in blocks (2.5) per game while holding opponents to just 63.2 points per contest which is also fifth in the PacWest.

Sophomore forward/center Alisha Wilson has been on quite the tear of late, earning her first career PacWest Player of the Week recognition after averaging 25.0 points, 16.5 rebounds, 4.0 blocks, 2.5 assists, and 2.5 steals in the final two ART U contests in Hawaii. On the season, she remains the conference leader in rebounds per game (12.8), which is fifth in NCAA Division II (tied for first with 5.6 boards coming on the offensive glass), With nine double-doubles thus far in 2022-23, Wilson paces the PacWest and is tied for 10th-most in NCAA DII, logging one in seven consecutive contests to give her sole possession of second in Academy of Art history at 23 in her career (four from tying the record set by Jasmin Guinn over four years).

A season-high 22 points came for sophomore guard Jadence Clifton in the Knights' victory over Chaminade on Jan. 10, helping support her season scoring average of 10.7 points per game (19th in PacWest) which comes with 2.3 steals per contest (fifth in PacWest). Currently third on the team in scoring is senior guard Lauryn Manns whose 9.1 points per game have been guided by a team-high .806 free throw percentage. Sophomore forward/center Christy Ojide is just one spot back of Wilson in the conference's blocks per game ranks with her 1.1 rejections per game ranking fifth while her 6.5 rebounds per contest are 11th.

YOU'RE SO GOLDEN
Concordia, the Urban Knights' second PacWest opponent this season, fell to Azusa Pacific (ranked No. 25 at the time) immediately after facing ART U on Dec. 3, but has since rattled off seven straight victories to rise to the top of the conference standings. A sweep in Hawaii furthered the momentum to better Point Loma most recently on Jan. 14 and CUI has been propelled by the PacWest's top three-point (.354) and free throw percentages (.763) plus the second-highest points per game (73.5) and field goal percentage (.428). Both Teagan Thurman (15.1) and Jasmine Rachal (14.7) rank inside the conference's top six in points per contest with Thurman adding the fifth-best rebounding average (7.8 per game). The Golden Eagles' win earlier this season brought them to within a game of Academy of Art 6-5 in the historical matchup.

MAKE YOUR POINT
Though Point Loma turned its Dec. 1 victory over ART U into back-to-back wins with a triumph hosting Dominican two days later, the Sea Lions have gone 4-6 since that time with losses coming to Azusa Pacific and Concordia most recently. PLNU, who rematches Dominican on Jan. 19 prior to its Bay Area battle with the Knights, can be found in the middle of the PacWest in most statistical categories with the fourth-highest collective blocks per game average (3.0). Haylee Saurette is Point Loma's leading scorer at 13.6 points per contest (seventh in PacWest), adding 7.1 rebounds per game (eighth in PacWest) and the conference's sixth-highest field goal percentage (.449). The Sea Lions are one win up on Academy of Art, 10-9, after having the upper hand last month.

SWIMMING WITH THE SHARKS
It will have been just two weeks ago that Hawaii Pacific hosted ART U on Jan. 8, securing a 62-52 victory on that afternoon before splitting its next two matchups with Dominican (a 60-33 loss) and Biola (a 77-60 win). The Sharks' final of 16 games on the Hawaiian Islands to start the season comes against Azusa Pacific on Jan. 18 and the Knights will be HPU's first opponent on the mainland the following week. Averaging 43.1 rebounds (first in PacWest) and 69.3 points per contest (third in PacWest), Hawaii Pacific has relied heavily upon on the NCAA DII leading scorer Abby Spurgin's 23.4 points, 9.5 rebounds (second in PacWest), and 2.6 blocks per game (third in NCAA DII) in addition to Avery Cargill's conference-best free throw percentage (.875) through her 48 trips to the foul line. The win in Hawaii furthered HPU's all-time lead over Academy of Art to 16-8.

WILSON'S SEVENTH STRAIGHT DOUBLE-DOUBLE NOT ENOUGH IN HILO
The Jan. 12 Pacific West Conference women's basketball matchup between Academy of Art and UH Hilo featured yet another standout performance from sophomore forward/center Alisha Wilson, but the Urban Knights could not recover from a solid opening half by the home team who prevailed 60-48 inside the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

LOOKING AHEAD
One more game will close out the homestand as ART U hosts UH Hilo on Jan. 29 before traveling to Southern California for PacWest rematches with Azusa Pacific (Feb. 2) and Biola (Feb. 4).