SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—Pacific West Conference tournament hopeful Academy of Art held serve in their quest for post-season play on Thursday at City College of San Francisco, defeating Hawai`i Hilo 71-62 in women's basketball action.

The Urban Knights won their third consecutive game to remain in fifth place in the PWC standings (top six teams qualify for the PacWest Tournament next week in Irvine). Academy of Art improved to 16-11 on the season and to 12-7 in conference play, while the Vulcans fell to 8-14 overall and are 8-11 in league action.

Kim Schmelz led UHH with a career-high 29 points, 12 of them coming in the final 2:37 of the game. Asia Smith added 11 points and 15 rebounds.

UH Hilo held a 12-10 lead late in the first quarter on a Patience Taylor basket with 2:52 left. But the Urban Knights responded with an 8-0 run to make the count 18-12 at the end of the first period, and they would advance that blitz to a 12-0 run early in the second quarter. A Smith basket finally stopped a drought of scoreless Vulcan play that lasted just over six minutes, and AAU would never trail in the ball game again.

The Vulcans made a handful of valiant runs at their hosts, including one in the second quarter that pulled them to within three points (22-19), but the Urban Knights sped away with a 14-3 run right before the half to make the scoreboard read 36-22 at the break. In the second half, AAU led by 19 points just a few minutes after intermission, but three-pointers by Alexa Jacobs and Schmelz, followed by another Schmelz basket helped pull UHH to within six points (40-34). But once again, Academy of Art answered to run their lead out to 57-42 at the end of the third quarter.

UH Hilo would make one last desparate run late in the game. Trailing 61-52 with 2:40 left, Schmelz scored five times in the next two minutes—three field goals and two three-pointers to cut the UAA margin to six points with 35 seconds left (65-59). The sophomore had 12 points during that blitz, but when the Vulcans had to foul in the final seconds the Urban Knights converted their free throws to seal the contest with the final 71-62 verdict.

UH Hilo struggled to find their shooting touch all night, converting just 33 percent of their shots from the floor. Three-pointers helped keep them close as they nailed nine on the night but they were out-boarded by their hosts, 51-36. Rodericka Ware had 21 points and ten rebounds to lead UAA, while Helena Orts also had double-double numbers with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

The Vulcans will wrap-up the 2016-17 season on Saturday at Dominican, another team trying to stay alive for post-season play. Start time is 5:30 p.m. PST.