Game #8
ART U Urban Knights (6-1, 0-0 PacWest) vs. Vanguard Lions (1-4, 0-0 PacWest)
Thursday, December 5, 2024 at 5 p.m.
San Francisco – SF State Main Gymnasium
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #9
ART U Urban Knights (6-1, 0-0 PacWest) vs. Point Loma Sea Lions (5-3, 0-0 PacWest)
Saturday, December 7, 2024 at 1 p.m.
San Francisco – Kezar Pavilion
Live Stats | Live Video

ACADEMY OF ART LOOKS TO BUILD ON CONFERENCE'S TOP RECORD THUS FAR
The first Pacific West Conference team to six victories thus far, Academy of Art women's basketball now enters its first week of PacWest play as the Bay Area host to Vanguard and Point Loma.

TIP-OFF
Tipping off their first conference game at 5 p.m. this Thursday, Dec. 5 inside SF State's Main Gym, ART U will host VU then turn around and welcome the PLNU to Kezar Pavilion on Saturday, Dec. 7 for a 1 p.m. start. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights via the athletics app (Apple App Store, Google Play Store) and on Twitter & Instagram, as well as "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHT WATCH
Elevating to a tie with Point Loma for ninth in the latest 2024-25 D2 College Sports Communicators Media Poll, Academy of Art added another win to its name this past weekend with a 67-62 victory over UC Merced on Dec. 1 that followed the team's 5-0 start which featured triumphs over SF State (Nov. 8), Cal State Monterey Bay (Nov. 9), Cal Maritime (Nov. 12), Stanislaus State (Nov. 16), and Sonoma State (Nov. 21). As a team, the Urban Knights still lead the PacWest with 45.0 rebounds per game (including the top on the defensive end at 30.7) and the lowest opponent field goal percentage (.319) while ranking among the top three in the conference in points (70.1) and assists (15.1) per game as well as field goal percentage (.411).

ART U has seen at least seven individuals score in each of its seven games to date with junior guard Alba Rovira Ayuso still among the PacWest's top 20 at 12.4 points per contest (17th) thanks in large part to the fourth-highest 3-pointers made per average (2.3) and eighth-highest three-point field goal percentage (.372). Rovira Ayuso (5.6) also joins senior forward/center Christy Ojide Boiko (7.3, sixth) and senior forward Yasmine Sifaoui (5.9, 13th) in making Academy of Art the only PacWest team with three players inside the top 20 in rebounds per game. Sifaoui (9.6) and Ojide Boiko (8.0) are next on the team in terms of points per game with the former coming off a career-high 18 against UC Merced and the latter adding to her team-high .521 field goal percentage (would be second in PacWest if qualified). Three more steals for sophomore guard Anna Fornells versus UCM marked her fourth time with at least two this season and kept her seventh in the conference at 2.0 per contest not too far ahead of fellow sophomore guard Lucia Revenga at 1.7 (13th). While Ojide Boiko's three-block effort against the Bobcats has helped her rise to 12th in the PacWest at 0.9 rejections per game, it is freshman forward Keira Mitchell who remains above at sixth overall (1.0). Redshirt freshman guard Karereatua Williams also comes off her best game in an Academy of Art uniform, scoring a season-best 12 points (including three triples) against UC Merced.

ROAR OF THE LIONS
Vanguard opened its 2024-25 season with four consecutive losses, dropping contests with Simon Fraser, Montana State Billings, Central Washington, and Northwest Nazarene before accomplishing a 70-59 victory over Westcliff in the Lions' first home game on Nov. 21. Off from competition for over two weeks, VU matches up with ART U led by the tandem of Halle Si'i and Sarah Matossian who average 14.4 and 13.0 points per game respectively (both top 15 in PacWest). Matossian adds the conference's fifth-most rebounds per contest (7.4) while Emma Schaaf provides 2.0 blocks per game (second in PacWest). Though it is the first time Vanguard will be competing in a PacWest game, it is not the team's first meeting with Academy of Art as the Knights and Lions previously clashed once before in 2008.

SEEING SEA LIONS
Picked to finish second in the conference during the preseason, Point Loma began by topping Cal State San Marcos 92-74, but dropped close games to Cal Poly Pomona (71-66) and Cal State Dominguez Hills (74-71) thereafter. The Sea Lions won three of their next four coming into a Dec. 5 PacWest debut at Dominican before this weekend's matchup with ART U. Offensive efficiency has been the biggest thing for PLNU thus far as the team ranks second in the PacWest at 73.0 points per game on the strength of the three best percentages at .455 from the field, .424 from long range, and .783 from the free throw line. Tavia Rowell represents Point Loma's top scoring threat at 15.8 points per game (fifth in PacWest) with Alli McDonald's impressive 10.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game second and fourth in the conference respectively. Though the Sea Lions have had the edge more recently, the all-time series with the Knights is relatively close at 13-9 in the former's favor.

THIRD QUARTER PUSH YIELDS WIN, KNIGHTS 6-1 TO BEGIN YEAR
Making a decisive move to start the second half, Academy of Art women's basketball scored nine straight points out of the break, never trailed in the final five minutes of regulation, and ultimately secured its sixth victory in 2024-25 by way of a 67-62 triumph over UC Merced on Dec. 1.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Urban Knights will close out the calendar year with two more conference games at home as Fresno Pacific (Dec. 13) and Chaminade (Dec. 21) come to San Francisco next.