BELMONT, Calif. – Academy of Art women's basketball combined an 11-2 run with its third-fewest opponent points allowed for a quarter to start the Pacific West Conference rematch with Point Loma and held a one-point lead at the half, but the Sea Lions swung the contest in their favor with a big third quarter before ultimately winning 59-46. A team-high 14 points from sophomore Jadence Clifton and sophomore forward/center Alisha Wilson's ninth consecutive double-double (11 points, 17 rebounds) combined for 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field in the first half, but it was not enough inside Walter Gleason Gym on Saturday.

As the action started fast and furiously, Clifton was the first to score, doing so from the paint where all seven of her field goals occurred. ART U then broke a 4-4 tie with more high-percentage looks for Wilson and Clifton during a 6-0 run. While limiting the Sea Lions to just six points in the opening quarter (tied with five other occasions for the third-lowest in a quarter) all on three baskets, the Urban Knights emphatically closed the frame with five unanswered points including a triple by junior guard Ashana Hinds.

Academy of Art's 15-6 lead after the opening quarter disappeared midway through the second as PLNU used an 11-0 surge to capture its first lead of the afternoon at 17-16. Senior guard Lauryn Manns buried a 3-pointer as momentum swung to set up an exciting final minute of action ahead of halftime. A Point Loma turnover helped ART U pull even on Wilson's score then, after the visitors responded in kind, Wilson beat the buzzer with the first triple of her collegiate career to put her team in front 24-23.

Though neither side scored in almost the first full two minutes of the second half, an 8-0 run by the Sea Lions ensued to give them a seven-point advantage before a pair of Clifton jumpers and a Manns free throw cut the margin to four. An 11-2 finish to the quarter, however, made it a double-digit difference that eventually swelled to 18 points early in the fourth.

A pair of 3-pointers by freshman guard Madison Johnson came during a two-minute span midway through the quarter to power an 11-2 rebuttal, but time ran out on the Knights' comeback as PLNU walked away 59-46 victors when the final buzzer sounded.

ART U, 4-13 in 2022-23 and 4-8 in PacWest matchups, had two Knights score in double figures with Clifton's 14 points coming on a 7-for-14 shooting performance from the field in addition to four rebounds and four assists. Meanwhile Wilson's 11 points were by way of a 5-for-10 effort shooting from the floor and her 17 rebounds furthered her PacWest lead to now 11 double-doubles on the season (25 in her career to sit two behind the Academy of Art leader). Wilson was one of three Knights with two steals in the game as well.

Point Loma, currently 9-12 overall and 7-6 in conference action, was led by Haylee Saurette's 15-point, 12-rebound double-double.

Halfway through its current homestand, Academy of Art next hosts Hawaii Pacific on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 5 p.m. inside Walter Gleason Gym.