SAN FRANCISCO – Guided by the hot hand of junior guard Rodericka Ware, the Urban Knights' winning streak continued Monday night with an 80-67 victory over BYU-Hawaii inside Kezar Pavilion. Ware exploded for a season-high 34 points, but it was her defensive contributions and those of her teammates that allowed Academy of Art to push further ahead with an eight-point scoring advantage in the fourth quarter.

Each time BYU-Hawaii gained leads in the first quarter, junior guard Jazzlyn Brewster would knock down a 3-pointer and keep her team within striking distance. Her second bucket came during a 7-2 response that eventually tied the game 17-17. Three consecutive layups by junior forward Helena Orts, Brewster, and freshman guard Karleigh Joseph on two steals by Ware later put ART U ahead 23-22, but a jumper in the final second by Maia Jean Watene gave the visitors a 24-23 margin at the opening quarter's end.

Ware then gave the Knights a boost offensively in the second before back-to-back 3-pointers by freshman guard Kennadi Miller and another by Ware fueled an 11-0 run to open up a 36-28 lead. BYUH answered back with a 10-0 rebuttal, but Ware scored her 10th and 11th points of the quarter on a jumper in the final minute of the quarter to get her team on top 40-38 going into halftime.

Joseph scored a pair of layups early in the second half yet the Seasiders remained extremely close and even took another lead, 52-50, on free throws by Safia Sheikh midway through. The Knights closed the quarter strong though, using a 9-0 surge that featured triples by junior guard Hayley Pryor and Ware.

Perhaps the biggest turning point came when Orts converted a three-point play then two free throws shortly thereafter to open up a 70-61 advantage with six minutes left. In the final minute and a half, Ware was repeatedly sent to the foul line where she knocked down five of six foul shots to hold off the Seasiders from any further of a comeback, effectively sealing the 80-67 win.

Now winners of four in a row, ART U improves to 4-4 on the year and 2-0 in PacWest play. Ware finished with the aforementioned season-high 34 points (one shy of the program record Jasmin Guinn set against Cal State Monterey Bay on Nov. 27, 2015) on 12-for-25 shooting from the field and 7-for-10 from the foul line. She added six assists and five steals all in 38 minutes on the court.

Brewster added 12 points with four steals while Orts posted 11 points to go with nine rebounds and four steals of her own. Academy of Art registered a season-high 19 steals and scored 20 points off turnovers in the contest.

BYU-Hawaii drops to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in conference. Safia Sheikh delivered a team-high 23 points on 7-for-12 shooting, but was one of four Seasiders with more than five turnovers. As a team, BYUH had 32 turnovers which were the most by an ART U opponent since BYU-Hawaii had 33 on Jan. 25, 2014.

The Urban Knights' third and final PacWest game of the calendar year comes this Sunday, Dec. 11 on the road at Holy Names in Oakland. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m. inside Tobin Gymnasium.