MONTECITO, Calif. – In Southern California on Friday to start a stretch of five consecutive road games, Academy of Art women's basketball met Westmont for the first time to date and it was the Warriors' hot shooting from distance that helped earn them a 101-61 Pacific West Conference win inside Murchison Gymnasium.

The Urban Knights started with a brief lead on a layup by sophomore guard Alba Rovira Ayuso followed by a triple from freshman guard Maddie Morrow. That pair helped ART U to a 12-9 advantage, but an ensuing 11-0 Warriors run eventually became a 28-3 shift bridging the first and second quarters. Morrow's five points in less than 30 seconds kept Academy of Art from falling further behind, but 10 triples and 29 bench points for Westmont ultimately helped the home team build a 55-27 halftime lead.

Points by freshman guard Lucia Revenga and junior forward/center Christy Ojide supported the offense initiated by Morrow and Rovira Ayuso in the third quarter, but the Warriors' offense continued to increase the margin. ART U would outscore Westmont in the fourth frame as 3-pointers by Rovira Ayuso and graduate student guard Emilia Dougherty fell before a layup from junior forward Yasmine Sifaoui came during an 8-0 run. The final buzzer would sound finally with the Warriors on top 101-61.

The Knights move to 3-9 overall and 2-4 versus PacWest opponents with the day's result. Morrow bettered her previous season-high by six with a game-high 21 points including four 3-pointers and three assists. Rovira Ayuso provided two triples among her 18 points and three assists and Sifaoui finished with seven points plus seven rebounds.

""Full credit to Westmont this afternoon," said Head Coach Jesse Clark. "They forced us out of our defensive organization. We will use this result to fuel our purpose this next week."

Westmont improves to 6-8 on the season and 3-4 in conference play after going 16-for-37 from the three-point line in the contest. Bailey Fong's five triples yielded 18 points while Kristan Yumul ended with 17 points and 10 assists and Sage Kramer added 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Departing the mainland for the first time this season, Academy of Art next begins its three-part Hawaii road trip with a rematch against Hawaii Pacific on Jan. 11 at 4:30 p.m. HT (6:30 p.m. PT).