Box Score

Photo Gallery (images by Rob Garcia)

Laie, HI – The Urban Knights entered uncharted territory Saturday evening, winning their third consecutive contest in Hawaii with an 88-75 victory over BYU-Hawaii inside Cannon Activities Center. Two points shy of the program record for points in a half, Academy of Art University women's basketball scored 52 in the opening period and fended off a late Seasiders comeback. Four ART U players scored in double figures, led by 18 points apiece from sophomore forward Alisa Griggs and senior guard Lorraine Etchell. This the first time since the program began in 2008 that the Knights have won three games in one Hawaii roadtrip.

"I thought offensively we were very balanced and were hitting on all cylinders, especially with a 52-point first half," head coach LaNay Larson said.

Looking to attack early, junior guard Jordan Rogers scored the first four ART U points before Griggs found her offensive stroke. The Milwaukie, OR native knocked down a jumper during an early 6-0 Knights run that was capped by a steal and breakaway layup for Etchell, making the score 16-10 in favor of ART U.

A minute later, Etchell exploded offensively. She started with converting a three-point play and would go on to score 10 consecutive points, growing the Academy of Art lead to 11. But the Knights would not stop there. Junior center Juliua Fraser earned a three-point play of her own after Griggs made a great save to put her teammate in position. A layup by senior guard Devin London as well as a basket by freshman center Alexandria Coleman finished off a 12-1 ART U run which increased the margin to 17 (35-18) at the 7:40 mark.

With BYU-Hawaii on its home floor, however, the Seasiders responded with a quick 7-0 burst. Academy of Art refused to let its lead drop below double digits as London buried a 3-pointer from the corner and Griggs worked hard for four more. Junior guard Nicol Biesek smoothly hit a jumper late in the half to send the Knights into halftime up 52-39 and finish off a memorable first half in which ART U shot exactly 50 percent from the field. In fact, the 52 points was second only to the 54 scored by the Urban Knights against Chaminade on Jan. 24, 2009.

To start the second period, the Seasiders outscored ART U 6-2, but Biesek then found freshman guard Vianai Austin for a jumper in transition and the Knights would soon be back up by 15 (60-45) after a bucket for Rogers. Biesek, who became a second half heroine, then nailed a 3-pointer and Coleman was set up for a three-point play by junior forward Ariel Dale.

Now up 70-51 midway through the second half, Academy of Art looked to be in control, but the Seasiders would put together an 8-2 run minutes later and it was a 12-point game with 6:47 to play. BYU-Hawaii followed that up with a 6-0 push, creating a manageable 78-71 score with still over four minutes remaining.

Biesek, however, shut down the BYUH comeback by getting to the foul line, knocking down her free throws, and finally through the conversion of a head's up defensive steal leading to an easy deuce on the other end. The third victory for ART U on this roadtrip was an 88-75 final over BYU-Hawaii.

"We are still working on dominating games and finishing teams off," Coach Larson said. "We let BYU-Hawaii back in the game towards the end, but did a good job of keeping our composure and coming away with the win."

Saturday night's contest was the second consecutive in which the Urban Knights had four players score in double figures. Griggs and Etchell led the way with 18 points apiece. Griggs finished the night going 8-for-12 from the floor and grabbing nine rebounds while Etchell added six rebounds as well as a 5-of-5 performance from the foul line. Biesek posted 15 points (6-for-9 FG) along with four assists, four steals, and three rebounds. Rogers scored 10 points and did a little bit of everything with her five assists, four rebounds, and three assists. Perhaps the most impressive statistic was that the Knights out-rebounded the Seasiders 51-37 and had every player notch at least three rebounds apiece. ART U improves to 8-6 overall, 3-2 in PacWest play.

"Alisa and Lorraine each had big first halves, scoring 14 apiece and Nicol had a big second half on the offensive end," Coach Larson said. "We emphasized hitting the offensive boards and I thought we did a great job of that at the beginning of the game."

For a BYU-Hawaii team that shot under 40 percent from the field in the second half, Shayla Washington put in game-highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds. Danna Lynn Hooper added 17 points and four steals, but she was one of several Seasiders who struggled at the free throw line where she was 4-of-8. As a team, BYUH shot just 56.7 percent from the foul line, including a 9-of-19 first half. BYU-Hawaii falls to 1-11 overall, 0-4 in the PacWest.

Just one contest now remains on Academy of Art University's Hawaii roadtrip. The Urban Knights will face off against Hawaii Pacific on Monday, Jan. 16 with tipoff set to begin at 5:00 PM HST (7:00 PM PST) inside the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.

"It feels great to start 3-0 here," Coach Larson said. "It's so rare to sweep four games on the islands and we have given ourselves the opportunity to do that on Monday."