SEASIDE, Calif. – With all 11 Urban Knights scoring in the contest, Academy of Art women's basketball pushed a double-digit advantage by halftime and eventually bested Cal State Monterey Bay 59-53 to wrap up the CCAA/PacWest Crossover 2-0 inside The Kelp Bed once again.
"Really pleased that we finished both games with our defense really shining," said Head Coach
Jesse Clark. "We said going into the year that it was ahead of the offense and once again we needed it to carry the day."
Once again on a hot start, ART U converted layups on its first two possessions with junior guard
Alba Rovira Ayuso and freshman guard
Violet Stutz quickly putting their squad ahead. Though the Otters briefly held a lead thereafter, the opening quarter ended on a 7-0 Knights run with sophomore guard
Maddie Morrow's 3-pointer sparking the surge toward a 19-13 difference heading to the second.
Momentum carried into the next quarter as the run became 15-0 with senior forward/center Christy Ojide and senior forward
Yasmine Sifaoui both converting layups along the way. Now ahead 27-15, Academy of Art got back-to-back triples from sophomore guard
Anna Fornells and redshirt freshman guard
Karereatua Williams before maintaining that double-digit lead into halftime up 35-24.
Eight unanswered points were capped by freshman guard
Harper Felch's three-point play midway through the third quarter, but Cal State Monterey Bay would have the final five points of the frame to make it 10 at the start of the fourth. The Otters would cut the margin down to single digits twice down the stretch including a 7-0 burst to make it just 52-47 with under two minutes left yet a layup by freshman forward
Keira Mitchell and free throws from sophomore guard
Lucia Revenga helped seal the eventual 59-53 victory.
"Our versatility on offense with every player scoring today played an important part as we needed every point," Clark said. "CSUMB make it difficult for us to get into any offensive flow."
The Urban Knights, undefeated through its first two contests, had Rovira Ayuso deliver a team-best 11 points with eight points apiece plus a combined 13 rebounds coming from Sifaoui and Ojide Boiko. Stutz provided seven points, Revenga added six points with five steals, and Fornells finished with six points and six rebounds.
"It is exciting starting 2-0, but it is the result of the work from the end of last season and how we were carrying it into this one," Sifaoui said. "It's a great push for us going forward and we learned a lot from these two games."
Cal State Monterey Bay begins its campaign at 0-2 though Ella Doherty scored a game-high 17 points and Jayden McNeal nearly had a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds.
Academy of Art will next play its first home game of the season on Tuesday, Nov. 12 with a 5:30 p.m. tip-off against Cal Maritime from Kezar Pavilion.
"We went into the weekend saying that our defense and taking care of the ball needed to be our two points of emphasis and both games proved that those were exactly the keys to victory," Clark said. "We will look to continue to get better at both in the week ahead."
