Game #1
ART U Urban Knights (0-0) vs. SF State Gators (0-0)
Friday, November 8, 2024 at 1 p.m.
Seaside, Calif. – The Kelp Bed
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #2
ART U Urban Knights (0-0) vs. Cal State Monterey Bay Otters (0-0)
Saturday, November 9, 2024 at 11 a.m.
Seaside, Calif. – The Kelp Bed
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #3
ART U Urban Knights (0-0) vs. Cal Maritime Keelhaulers (1-2)
Tuesday, November 12, 2024 at 5:30 p.m.
San Francisco – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats | Live Video
 

Academy of Art women's basketball prepares to build further on the solid foundation it began last season as Head Coach Jesse Clark and his coaching staff start year two alongside a strong core of returners and talented newcomers in 2024-25.

Set to play nearly all of its non-conference slate in November, ART U opens with SF State (Nov. 8) and Cal State Monterey Bay (Nov. 9) in the CCAA/PacWest Crossover hosted by the Otters. At home in for the first time on Nov. 12, Academy of Art hosts Cal Maritime then heads back on the road for trips to Stanislaus State (Nov. 16) and Sonoma State (Nov. 21). A six-game homestand then starts with Chico State (Nov. 23) and UC Merced (Dec. 1) before Pacific West Conference action commences with Vanguard on Dec. 5. The remainder of the month's games will be inside Kezar Pavilion as Point Loma (Dec. 7), Fresno Pacific (Dec. 13), and Chaminade (Dec. 21) all come to town.

The beginning of the new calendar year has the Urban Knights at Biola (Jan. 2), PLNU (Jan. 4), and Jessup (Jan. 8) before a quick home series featuring Lincoln (Calif.) (Jan. 11) and Jessup once again on Jan. 18. ART U's longest road swing of the season follows with trips to FPU (Jan. 20), Menlo (Jan. 25), UH Hilo (Jan. 30) and Chaminade (Feb. 1) taking Academy of Art into February. A home for five of the next six, the Knights play host to Dominican (Feb. 5), Menlo (Feb. 8), Westmont (Feb. 15), Hawaii Pacific (Feb. 20), and UH Hilo (Feb. 24) with a Feb. 17 road game at Dominican mixed in. After wrapping up the regular season at Concordia (Feb. 27) and Azusa Pacific (Mar. 1), ART U hopes to qualify for the PacWest Championship Tournament which will be hosted by Dominican and take place in San Rafael Mar. 6-8. To view the 2024-25 schedule, click here!

Collegiate experience can be felt throughout Academy of Art's collection of graduate students, guard Emilia Dougherty and forward Claire Ricard, and seniors, forward/center Christy Ojide Boiko and forward Yasmine Sifaoui. Dougherty comes off a season in which she was one of four Urban Knights with at least 20 triples made and carried the team's highest shooting percentage at the foul line (.818) while Ricard, a proven leader currently on the ART U volleyball team, previously captained Benson High School's basketball team while scoring 1,000 points and grabbing 500 rebounds. On her way to more milestones after breaking the program's career blocks record (87) and ranking top six in the PacWest in both rebounds and blocks per game, Ojide Boiko enters 2024-25 with the sixth-most rebounds (465) in Academy of Art history.

Guard Alba Rovira Ayuso, the team's lone junior, will provide an encore performance to her 2023-24 PacWest Newcomer of the Year sophomore season which saw her deliver the conference's third-highest points per game average (13.9) on the strength of the second-most 3-pointers made per game (1.8). Scoring in double figures in 20 outings last year, the native of Valencia, Spain knocked down at least one triple in all but four games and comes into this season as one of 13 PacWest Players to Watch.

Fellow Spanish countrywomen guards Lucia Revenga and Anna Fornells will combine with guard Maddie Morrow on the Urban Knights' sophomore class in 2024-25. Revenga emerged as one of the PacWest's top defenders, averaging 2.3 steals per game (second in PacWest), Fornells ranked second to Revenga with regard to steals on the team (39), and Morrow demonstrated an impressive shooting ability, ending among the program's top 10 in terms single-season three-point percentage (.336) as well as fifth in the conference.

Composing the Knights' freshman class will be one returner, freshman guard Karereatua Williams, plus the new trio of forward Keira Mitchell and guards Violet Stutz and Harper Felch. Williams redshirted with ART U last year and prepares to make her collegiate debut following time as a remarkable six-sport student-athlete at St. Andrew's College. Also multi-sport student-athletes, Mitchell earned Most Valuable Player honors after averaging nearly a double-double at Fountain-Fort Carson High School and Felch finished as Morris County School of Technology's school record holder in points and assists as well as a four-time First Team All-Division honoree. Bringing international success to the squad, Stutz was a six-time National Champion, representing England on five occasions (U14-U18) and Great Britain twice.

With team chemistry backed by a culture of empowerment, Academy of Art tips off its 2024-25 campaign this week