Game #26
ART U Urban Knights (17-8, 10-5 PWC) vs. Notre Dame de Namur Argos (3-20, 2-13 PWC)
Saturday, February 23, 2013 at 12:00 PM
San Francisco, CA – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats | Live Audio | Live Video

Game #27
ART U Urban Knights (14-8, 7-5 PWC) vs. Holy Names Hawks (12-12, 6-9 PWC)
Tuesday, February 26, 2013 at 5:30 PM
Oakland, CA – Tobin Gymnasium
Live Stats | Live Video

ART U HOSTS ARGOS IN HOME FINALE, AT HAWKS IN HOME STRETCH
Having upset #13 Grand Canyon, secured a spot in the Pacific West Conference Tournament, set a new program wins record, and been tabbed the #9 team in the NCAA Division II West Region all in a week's span, Academy of Art University Women's Basketball has much to be proud of heading into its final three games of the year. This Saturday, with Notre Dame de Namur in town, ART U will honor its five seniors, Nicol Biesek, Jordan Rogers, Ariel Dale, Katy Wade, and Juliua Fraser, prior to tip-off. The Urban Knights are then at Holy Names on Tuesday, Feb. 26 in another PacWest rematch.

OPENING TIP
This Saturday, Feb. 23 will mark the final home game of ART U's regular season. The Urban Knights will honor their five seniors prior to the special tip-off time of 12:00 PM with NDNU inside Kezar Pavilion. Fan Bus signups for the Senior Day/Battle of the Halls game can be found here.

Additionally, Live Stats, Live Audio, and another special Live Video presentation by the Academy of Art University Multimedia Communications department will be available for this game.

Then, on Tuesday, Feb. 26, ART U travels across the bay to Holy Names' Tobin Gymnasium for its first of two road contests to wrap up the regular season. Tip-off for that contest is set for 5:30 PM. Live coverage will be available in the form of Live Stats and Live Video. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHTS BREAK INTO FIRST NCAA REGIONAL RANKINGS
The morning after setting a new program wins record with a victory over Dominican, Academy of Art University Women's Basketball received more historic news in Wednesday's announcement of the NCAA Division II Regional rankings. The Urban Knights have earned a 9th place ranking in the West Region, marking the first time any ART U athletics team has been issued such an honor by the NCAA.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: DOMINANT DEFENSE
Academy of Art University has served as the nation's top team in terms of turnover margin for the majority of the 2012-13 year and continues to maintain that title with a difference of 8.88 turnovers per game. Thus far, the Knights have forced 636 turnovers while only committing 418 themselves. As of Feb. 17, ART U is also #3 in the country in steals per game average (15.1 spg) and is currently 14th in scoring average (75.0 ppg). Adding to their top marks, Academy of Art is averaging 17.0 assists per game (10th in NCAA DII), 5.0 blocks per game (22nd in NCAA DII), and a 1.02 assist-to-turnover ratio (25th in NCAA DII).

KNIGHT WATCH
One of the most balanced teams in the PacWest, Academy of Art still has four of its players averaging double figures in points per game. Senior Jordan Rogers, the PacWest's 11th leading scorer at 13.5 ppg, has gotten over a third of her points at the foul line where she is shooting 77.6 %. The senior tandem of Katy Wade and Ariel Dale were each found on the most recent release of the PacWest Weekly Fantastic 15 as Wade led the conference in rebounding last week while Dale stuffed the stat sheet. Wade, one of the nation's top shot blockers (now up to 12th in NCAA DII) has continued to build on the program's new single-season blocks record (64) and currently averages 2.7 blocks as well as 9.9 rebounds per game with rebound totals of 16 and 13 against Grand Canyon and Fresno Pacific respectively. Ranked second in the PacWest and 24th in the country in steals per game (3.0), Dale (11.5 ppg) has led by example for the dominant ART U defense this season. Freshman Sha'Nice Storey (10.5 ppg), and freshman Regina Camera (10.0 ppg) are the other two Knights consistently scoring in double figures.

ARGONIZING SEASON
Since opening PacWest play with a 95-56 loss to the Knights back on Dec. 1, Notre Dame de Namur has had a rough go of it. That defeat was part of a 13-game losing streak with all but two by double digits. On Jan. 19, the Argos pushed BYU-Hawaii into overtime, but ended up still taking the 73-66 loss before their first conference victory of the season came against Chaminade in the form of a 63-52 final. Two days later, NDNU edged Dominican 70-68 in overtime, but since that time, it was six consecutive defeats for the Argonauts. Most recently, Notre Dame de Namur dropped an 80-57 game at Holy Names on Feb. 19. No Argo is averaging double figures in scoring this season, but Trisha Malaspina is close at 9.8 points as well as 6.7 rebounds per game. The team's sharp-shooter, Taylor Dewees, has made 41 3-pointers thus far and is posting 8.1 ppg. Historically, the Knights hold a 5-2 all-time advantage in the series with Bay Area rival NDNU.

HIGH-SCORING HAWKS
After ART U dealt Holy Names its first conference loss of the season (94-89 on Dec. 8), the Hawks went 3-2 in their first conference road trip to Hawaii. Back home, they finished off a season sweep of BYU-Hawaii, but then sustained a five-game losing streak (their longest of the year) which included a 72-64 defeat at the hands of UH Hilo. HNU has righted the ship more recently, however, winning three of its last four highlighted by a 76-65 victory over Dixie State on Feb. 14. Britney Potestio leads Holy Names, the highest scoring team in the PacWest, with a 17.0 points per game average after making a total of 64 3-pointers. She is supported by Sonia Aguilar (16.2 ppg) who went for 33 in the loss to Academy of Art earlier this year. That tandem ranks 3rd and 4th in the PacWest in scoring thus far. HNU is scheduled to face Dominican on Feb. 19 prior to its Tuesday meeting with Academy of Art. ART U will look to even its historical matchup with Holy Names as the Knights are 1-2 against the Hawks.

ART U STIFLES PENGUINS FOR NEW WINS RECORD
Academy of Art University Women's Basketball set a new program wins record this past Tuesday evening with its 72-61 victory over Dominican inside Kezar Pavilion. Following an 8-0 run late in the first half, the Urban Knights snatched away the lead from the Penguins and never relinquished it as 24 points off 22 Dominican turnovers spelled the difference particularly as ART U pushed across a double-digit advantage in the second period. Rogers led all scorers with 20 points and six rebounds while Camera added 17 points.

LOOKING AHEAD
After Tuesday's rematch with Holy Names, just one final game will be left in ART U's 2012-13 regular season. The Urban Knights are at Dominican on Saturday, Mar. 2 for a 5:30 PM tip-off. After that contest, they will travel to Azusa for the inaugural Pacific West Conference Tournament where they will play for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.