AAU Tops BYU-Hawaii on Senior Night

Box Score

San Francisco, CA --- The Urban Knights (6-10,10-17) bested the visiting Seasiders of BYU-Hawaii (5-9,9-15) in front of their home crowd tonight at Kezar Pavilion, 66-49. Urban Knight fans honored seniors Caprice Hall, Brittany Kikuchi, and Sondra Stilwell in a warm fashion before their final game of season. The energy from the crowd propelled AAU over the Seasiders rather convincingly, as the Urban Knights never trailed during the contest. Every Urban Knight scored in the game and four players registered points in double figures, with Lorraine Etchell leading the way with a game high 17 points. The win puts the Urban Knights in fifth place, one above their pre-season predicted order of finish.

From the opening tip it was obvious who was in charge tonight on the floor of Kezar Pavilion. The Urban Knights started the game on a 11-3 run, forcing the Seasiders to call an early timeout to regroup. AAU kept BYU-Hawaii under 10 points for the first nine minutes of the contest, and maintained the lead for the entirety of the half. The Seasiders were able to get to within one point, 15-14, with 10 minutes remaining in the half, but an Ashleigh Frazier three pointer followed by a Frazier steal and Madeline Houston lay-up pushed their cushion back up six. There would be two ties before the teams went into the locker room, but AAU would ultimately head into halftime up 30-25. AAU caused 17 turnovers in the first half, picking up eight steals; with Frazier notching three of those eight.

Going into the second half the Seasiders started to put pressure on the Urban Knights bringing themselves to within one point within the first six minutes of play. The Urban Knights, however, responded with a 13-2 run capped by a game breaking three pointer by Stilwell who was fouled and made the basket, although Stilwell missed the free-throw the Urban Knights lead was up to 15 and they showed no sign of backing down. Seniors Kikuchi and Hall each knocked down shots late in the game to give AAU their largest lead, and as the buzzer sound the crowd cheered and the Urban Knights emerged victorious over the Seasiders, 66-49.

For BYU-Hawaii Madison Kite and Felisita Ika each chipped in with eight points, Kite was 3-4 from the field and added three rebounds and two assists. Mahino Gago added seven points, five rebounds and two steals for the Seasiders.

The Urban Knights managed 14 steals and caused 28 turnovers on the night. As a team they shot almost 60% from the field and 50% from the behind the three point line. Leading the way for AAU was sophomore Lorraine Etchell who notched 17 points and three assists in the win. Senior Sondra Stilwell added 14 points to go with her five assists and two steals in her farewell game. While Verity Peets and Jessica Nolan each chipped in with 10 points a piece, Nolan added 10 rebounds to that for her fifth straight double-double.

The Urban Knights finish their season 10-17 overall and 5-10 in Pacwest play.