Trenton Hernandez

Women's Basketball

Academy of Art Keeps Winning Streak Rolling In PacWest Championships

FRESNO, Calif. – No. 3 Academy of Art is the first team to secure its spot in the PacWest Championships semifinals after defeating No. 6 Hawai`i Hilo on Thursday afternoon in the Special Events Center as a quartet of Urban Knights scored in double figures to survive and advance.
 
The Urban Knights’ defense in the second and fourth quarters was the story of the game as they held Hawai`i Hilo to a combined 5 for 29 in the two quarters. With the win, Academy of Art (17-9) will advance to Friday’s semifinal at 5 p.m. to face the winner of No. 2 Dominican and No. 7 Point Loma.
 
There were seven lead changes in the game after Hawai`i Hilo (14-10) took an early lead. The lead got as big as eight in the second quarter, but Milan Tuttle and Chanel Stuart hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the deficit down to just two. Stuart finished the game 3 for 7 from beyond the arc for 16 points with 11 rebounds.
 
Alisha Wilson made a pair of lay-ups later in the quarter as Academy of Art took a 29-24 lead into halftime. However, Hawai`i Hilo retook the lead with an early 10-0 run to go ahead 34-31. Mandi Kawaha scored four of the points during the run and finished with a game-high 19 points for the Vulcans.
 
Kaila Murrell started the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run, starting with a jumper in the paint before knocking down a 3-pointer on the next possession to take a 49-45 lead. The Urban Knights never let that lead slip away, but the Vulcans also never let that lead get any larger than five points. Murrell scored seven points in the fourth quarter and the Urban Knights made 6 of 10 free throws to hold onto the lead.
 
Murrell and Wilson played a combined 67 minutes off the bench and scored 24 points. Wilson, who is the PacWest rebounding leader, collected a double-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and one block.
 
Academy of Art is now on a six-game winning streak going into Friday’s semifinal. Hawai`i Hilo finishes the 2021-22 season with a record of 14-10 after reaching the PacWest Championships for the third time in program history.