SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In the first of two exhibition games against NCAA Division I opponents to start the season, Academy of Art women's basketball stayed right with Santa Clara for much of the night, but ended up falling 74-53 inside Leavey Center on Tuesday night.

"We finally had a chance to go five-on-five, make adjustments, and test some things out and I thought our team got better along the way," said head coach Camille Williams. "I thought Santa Clara did a great job using their length and it was important to go against a tough team who knows what execution was about. I'm so thankful for Santa Clara allowing us to come and work against their players. This has elevated our game with regards to intention on the court and the speed we need to have."

Though SCU jumped out to a 6-0 lead to start the contest, a 3-pointer by junior guard Brianna Cates got ART U on the board midway through the first quarter and helped to spark the Urban Knights' offense.
Academy of Art proceeded to unleash an 8-0 run book-ended by triples from junior guard Josselyn Morris and senior guard Inga Kot to come within a single point of the Broncos at 14-13 before the home team used free throws to end the period up 17-13.

Santa Clara would begin the second period with a 12-2 push that would create a double-digit advantage. A pair of free throws by freshman guard Chanel Stuart cut the margin to 31-21 and sophomore forward Megan Jefferson would support the offense off the bench before Stuart ended the half with a triple off a pass from Morris.

From a 41-29 lead at halftime, SCU was met with four made free throws by Cates in the early stages of the second half then two more layups by Jefferson made it a 53-37 ballgame a little less than halfway through the third quarter. Similarly as her shot at the end of the second, Stuart provided a jumper with 14 seconds left in the third to make it 62-43 Santa Clara heading to the fourth.

Jefferson and junior forward Ines Medina worked in tandem during a 6-0 run by the Urban Knights early in the fourth quarter. Despite getting the lead down to 15 at that point (64-49) with six minutes and 45 seconds left, ART U would not come closer as the Broncos increased the margin back to 25 points thereafter and ended 74-53 winners.

Academy of Art was led by 13 points from Cates, another 12 from Jefferson, and 10 points from Morris off the bench. Stuart added eight points and five rebounds while redshirt junior guard Taloni Reese grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

"From this particular game, I want to keep helping our team build our confidence because Cal Poly is just as tough," said Williams. "We're going to take away how to establish the identity of being a good rebounding team, boxing out, and solidifying those aspects. We were able to hustle, shoot some gaps, and get buckets off our defense in this game so we just need to clean up our unforced errors and maintain a satisfactory possession. Defensively, we need to tighten things up, identify their threats, and keep mixing it up. I was really satisfied with our opening game particularly as our players had their endurance tested and remained as competitive as they were."

Santa Clara had a game-high 16 points and 14 rebounds from Ashlyn Herlihy plus 15 points from Lexie Pritchard off the bench.

The Urban Knights will next travel to San Luis Obispo for a Nov. 6 matchup with NCAA DI Cal Poly that is set for 5:30 p.m. inside Mott Gym.