SAN FRANCISCO – Victorious for the third straight occasion to begin its 2024-25 season, Academy of Art women's basketball outplayed Cal Maritime throughout Tuesday's ART U home opener, combining contributions from up and down the roster in a 77-57 triumph.

"We talked pregame about how hard it is to win and Cal Maritime presented challenges for us throughout the game," said Head Coach Jesse Clark. "But to come away with a quality performance at home in Kezar Pavilion and to start the season 3-0 is something that our group is incredibly proud of accomplishing."

When freshman guard Violet Stutz and senior forward/center Christy Ojide Boiko were not knocking down 3-pointers to start the game, the Urban Knights were busy grabbing nine rebounds in the first two minutes. Matching the advantage it held after an 8-0 run out of the gate, Academy of Art went ahead 12-4 on a triple by junior guard Alba Rovira Ayuso then held a 16-10 lead thanks to another of her baskets just before the opening quarter's expiration.

Though the Keelhaulers whittled the margin down to two points midway through the second frame, ART U countered with sophomore guard Maddie Morrow's 3-pointer sparking a 12-2 surge that kept the difference in the double digits much of the rest of the way. Free throws by sophomore guard Anna Fornells and a tip-in by freshman forward Keira Mitchell helped offset triples by CSM on both sides of halftime before a 13-0 Knights run that featured two more Morrow 3-pointers expanded the advantage in the third quarter.

"We were really pleased with the shot selection in the first half and made a point at the half that, if we raised our intentionality on the offensive side, the positive results would come," Clark said.

Just 13 points was as close as Cal Maritime would come in the final frame as graduate student Emilia Dougherty had five of her side's 9-0 push to force a 20-point lead that became the eventual 77-57 winning margin.

Now 3-0 overall to begin the season, Academy of Art had three Urban Knights score in double figures with Ojide Boiko, Stutz, and Morrow all sharing the squad's top spot at 11 points apiece. Ojide Boiko's game-high 13 rebounds marked both a season-best and gave her the ninth double-double of her career while Morrow grabbed eight rebounds and hit three 3-pointers. Fornells provided nine points plus five steals and Mitchell added eight points with five rebounds and two steals.

"Really proud of Christy tonight leading the way in all phases of our program layers," Clark said. "Our system is built on playing for each other and to have big numbers in the assist column as well as the rebounding from so many people are both indicative of the quality that we have in our lineup."

In addition to nine of 11 Knights both scoring and recording an assist, every member of the team collected at least two rebounds each, pushing ART U's collective 64 total that tied for seventh-most in program history and was the highest total achieved since 2017.

"It takes some weight off our bigs knowing that even our guards make an effort in grabbing boards," Ojide Boiko said. "We had an advantage with not only our height tonight, but we knew that rebounding has been a key for us to get second-chance points."

Cal Maritime drops to 1-3 overall with the loss despite double-digit scoring efforts from Jameela Pharms (12), Aysia Santos (11), and Dylan Fulton (10).

This weekend brings another road game against a California Collegiate Athletic Association opponent when ART U puts its undefeated record on the line against Stanislaus State on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. from Ed & Bertha Fitzpatrick Arena in Turlock.

"It feels great to start off the season with three wins in a row," Ojide Boiko said. "We feel like we can still build and grow from where we are to keep the momentum as we get into our conference games."