SAN FRANCISCO – Sporting a talented roster with depth at every position, Academy of Art women's basketball highlighted its 2024-25 season with an unprecedented 5-0 start, a sweep of Chaminade in addition to victories over other Pacific West Conference opponents, and held opponents to the PacWest's lowest field goal percentage all en route to achieving the program's best record in the last three years, the second under Head Coach Jesse Clark.

"In year two, we were on the right trajectory that we want to be going," Clark said. "Our development as a team helped us give ourselves more chances to win and we can use those markers to know we are making progress."

In the CCAA/PacWest Crossover on Nov. 8, the Urban Knights began their year with a 78-72 win over SF State, running away late as junior guard Alba Rovira Ayuso and freshman guard Violet Stutz combined for 32 points including six 3-pointers. The following day on Nov. 9, ART U had all of its players score as the team never trailed in the second half of a gritty defensive battle that saw them best Cal State Monterey Bay 59-53.

Academy of Art next picked up its first home win of the year, a 77-57 domination of Cal Maritime on Nov. 12, thanks to contributions from every Knight to step on the floor and the seventh-most rebounds in program history (64). The season-opening win streak was pushed to four games when 17 triples (including six from sophomore guard Maddie Morrow) propelled ART U past Stanislaus State 89-57 on Nov. 16. After the squad never trailed in another triumph with double-digit Knights scoring in the contest, a 69-50 result at Sonoma State on Nov. 21, Academy of Art could be found sporting a 5-0 record for the first time ever.

"It's exciting when your program does something that hasn't been done before, especially with a program that has a high level of success throughout its history," Clark said. "We were incredibly proud to start 5-0 and that is something this 2024-25 group will always have."

Though ART U saw its win streak come to an end hosting Chico State on Nov. 23, the team returned to its winning ways on Dec. 1, taking down UC Merced 67-62 with double-digit scoring efforts coming from senior forward Yasmine Sifaoui (18), sophomore guard Anna Fornells (13), redshirt freshman guard Karereatua Williams (12), and senior forward/center Christy Ojide Boiko (11).

A back-and-forth contest with Vanguard opened conference play on Dec. 5 then Academy of Art challenged eventual PacWest Champion Point Loma with a strong start on Dec. 7. Following Fresno Pacific's late push to separate from a hard-fought game to that point on Dec. 13, ART U outlasted Chaminade 67-66 in overtime for the first conference victory of the year. The Dec. 21 thriller was finished on clutch free throws from Williams which allowed ART U to punctuate the calendar year on a winning note.

After starting 2025 in Southern California against Biola (Jan. 2) and rematching PLNU (Jan. 4), the Knights collected back-to-back wins over Jessup (Jan. 8) and Lincoln (Calif.) (Jan. 11). Ojide Boiko memorably became the first Academy of Art player to block 100 shots in her career during a 56-50 triumph over the Warriors that was marked by defense then the squad delivered their eighth-highest scoring total in program history, routing the Oaklanders 96-70 with 18 points apiece from Rovira Ayuso and Williams.

"The depth on our team is something we do philosophically so having multiple players scoring the basketball is one of those hallmarks of the program," Clark said. "We'll continue to grow and raise those levels of what those numbers ultimately are."

Throughout the rest of January, the Knights split with Jessup (Jan. 18), attempted multiple comebacks in their opening matchup with Fresno Pacific (a game that featured freshman forward Keira Mitchell's season-high five blocks) on Jan. 20, and dropped the first-ever meeting with Menlo (Jan. 25).

In Hawaii next, ART U bounced back from a Jan. 30 defeat at UH Hilo's hand by sweeping the season series with Chaminade on Feb. 1. Holding the Silverswords to just seven points in the third quarter and just one field goal in the fourth, Academy of Art continued to support what would be the lowest opponent field goal percentage in the conference (.350) with a 52-49 victory.

"We've had tough battles with Chaminade and come out on the right side of those for two years in a row now and any time you can do that in conference is always a good thing," Clark said. "We also split with some other teams this year, but we just have to be more consistent there."

The month of February brought a homestand that featured the year's first pairing with Dominican (Feb. 5), Rovira Ayuso pouring in a career-high 25 points  a rematch with Menlo on Feb. 8, and a four-point lead with two minutes left against postseason-bound Westmont on Feb. 15. Though a third quarter comeback against DU on Feb. 17 did not yield victory, but the Knights would log their 11th win of the year with HPU in town on Feb. 20 when a bounce back second quarter led by Morrow led into a strong second half for the 68-65 success.

Prior to rematching UH Hilo on Feb. 24, Academy of Art celebrated its senior class of graduate student guard Emilia Dougherty and forward Claire Ricard along with Sifaoui and Ojide Boiko who fittingly made important contributions during the season's final stretch.

"We forged our identity defensively this season and, offensively, running through our forwards, Yasmine and Christy, was consistent all year for us," Clark said. "They became our anchor pieces because you knew night in and out they were going to be difficult for the opposition to handle. Claire was playing her best basketball of the season really towards the end and Emilia, who afforded us experience with a young group, provided us with such good depth on the perimeter and allowed us to have a deep rotation with so many people being able to score."

The Knights' 2024-25 campaign wrapped up on the road with the year's first faceoffs against Concordia (Feb. 27) and Azusa Pacific (Mar. 1). The Golden Eagles held on despite an ART U momentum shift in the third quarter then the seniors joined sophomore guard Lucia Revenga, who scored a season-high 15 points, at the forefront of the season finale.

Taking a confident step forward this past year, Academy of Art remains focused on further improvement in the campaign ahead.

"We were pleased with our progress and the number of victories overall this season, but we are hungry for more," Clark said. "In the conversations I've had with our players, it was really powerful for our group to see our men's team have a postseason run in person. I'm getting a motivating spirit with what we're looking forward to next season. I think we'll have more experience as a seasoned group coming back together with added energy to be more intentional in 2025-26 so I'm excited about that as we use this time of year to get better."