LaNay Larson enters her seventh season as head coach for Academy of Art University women's basketball in 2017.
Starting a new chapter with nine new faces at the start of the year, Academy of Art University women's basketball grew together through a 2016-17 campaign that featured an eight-game win streak, several breakout performances, and ultimately Larson's sixth consecutive winning season as ART U finished 16-12 overall and 12-8 in conference play. Three Urban Knights garnered PacWest weekly honors throughout the year and two were named to the
All-PacWest Team.
In a swan song of a season for seven Academy of Art University women's basketball seniors, the Urban Knights' 2015-16 campaign saw the most wins in program history, thrilling battles against the best the West Region had to offer, four 1,000-point milestones, and the team's third NCAA postseason appearance in the past four years. For the second time under Larson, four players were named to the
All-PacWest Team including two-time PacWest Defender of the Year Jasmin Guinn.
The 2014-15 season saw ART U go 18-11 overall and 13-7 in PacWest Conference play, marking the fourth consecutive season in which the program has won 16+ games. Academy of Art was strong at home (8-4) and went on to earn a conference tournament berth with wins in six of its final seven regular season games. The Urban Knights fell to Azusa Pacific in the opening round of the PacWest Conference Championship Tournament, but still had two
All-PacWest Team honorees with Jasmin Guinn (First Team) and Zoie Sheng (Third Team) who both achieved multiple record-setting milestones as juniors.
The Urban Knights repeated as
PacWest Conference Tournament Champions in 2013-14 and added the program's first conference regular season title as well, going 23-8 overall and 18-2 in PacWest play. Guiding the program to its best season yet, Coach Larson and Academy of Art saw highlights such as breaking the 100-point barrier for the first time in a
101-47 win over BYU-Hawaii before two record 60-point halves combined to set ART U's new scoring record in a
120-69 domination of Chaminade.
En route to the PacWest regular season championship, Academy of Art had a program record 11-game win streak spanning more than a month from Jan. 20 - Feb. 24.
ART U went on to defeat Dixie State and California Baptist in the PacWest Championship Tournament and made its second NCAA Tournament appearance where the Knights fell in a heartbreaker to Montana State Billings despite having two chances to win in the final seconds. The program celebrated its first NCAA All-American in Krystal Forthan who was also named PacWest Player and Newcomer of the Year as well as MVP of the PacWest Tournament. Along with Forthan, the rest of ART U's stellar sophomore starting lineup, Zoie Sheng, Sha'Nice Storey, Regina Camera, and Jasmin Guinn, were all recognized on the
All-PacWest Team. Guinn additionally earned the title of
PacWest Defensive Player of the Year and Coach Larson was selected as
PacWest Coach of the Year for the first time in her career.
ART U's 2012-13 season saw tremendous success under Coach Larson as the program went 23-9 overall and 16-5 in Pacific West Conference play for its winningest year to date. The season began with the Urban Knights never trailing for their first 170 minutes played as they won four in a row to start. Academy of Art would later
knock off #17 Pittsburg State,
sweep its three-game Hawaii roadtrip for the second consecutive year, and initiate a program-record nine-game win streak (tied most by any team in ART U athletics history to date) with an
overtime win hosting #13 Grand Canyon.
The team's final three victories of the year (one of which was
another overtime victory versus Grand Canyon) led them to a
PacWest Conference Tournament Championship (the first in conference history) and thus a
NCAA Tournament appearance in the program's first year of eligibility. Three of Coach Larson's players received
All-PacWest honors in addition to Jordan Rogers being named MVP of the PacWest Conference Championship Tournament.
In her first year at the helm in 2011-12, Larson took Urban Knights women's basketball to new heights with a season highlighted by a nine-game win streak (including a 4-0 stretch in Hawaii), a chance to contend for the PacWest Conference title, and a
huge upset victory over PacWest's only ranked team, Grand Canyon (#16 at the time), late in the year. Following the winningest year in program history,
four ART U athletes were also named to the All-PacWest Second Team.
From 2006-2011, Larson served as the Head Assistant Women's Basketball Coach as well as Head Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach for Dixie State College. In addition to managing the program’s transition from NJCAA to NCAA DII, Larson helped lead Dixie State Women's Basketball to five straight winning seasons including second place Pacific West Conference finishes in 2009, 2010, and 2011. She coached the team to its first ever NCAA DII Tournament berth in 2011 with a 24-4 record.
Prior to her time at Dixie, Larson was an assistant coach at College of St. Mary in the 2005-2006 season, helping lead the team to its first NAIA national championship berth and into the Sweet 16.
Larson began her playing career at Kirkwood Community College where she was a member of a region championship team which finished fourth in the NJCAA national tournament. She then played one year at NCAA Division II Pittsburg State (Kansas) before suffering a career-ending injury late that season.
Larson is from Sioux City, Iowa, where she played basketball for a East High School team that qualified for the Class 4A state tournament her junior and senior seasons.
Head Coach, ART U
2011 - present
| Year |
Overall (Pct.) |
PacWest (Place) |
| 2016-17 |
16-12 (.571) |
12-8 (7th) |
| 2015-16 |
24-9 (.727) |
18-2 (3rd) |
| 2014-15 |
18-11 (.621) |
13-7 (5th) |
| 2013-14 |
23-8 (.742) |
18-2 (1st) |
| 2012-13 |
23-9 (.719) |
16-5 (3rd) |
| 2011-12 |
16-10 (.615) |
12-6 (5th) |
| Totals |
120-59 (.670) |
89-30 (.748) |
