SAN FRANCISCO – After a closely-contested first 15 minutes of the year's first Pacific West Conference action, Academy of Art women's basketball and Vanguard exchanged significant momentum shifts inside SF State Main Gym on Thursday night. Though the Urban Knights used a 12-2 run to rally back in the third, the Lions managed to knock down 13 triples en route to a 75-61 victory.

An 8-2 advantage for ART U was quickly gained on a pair of 3-pointers from redshirt freshman guard Karereatua Williams, but a 10-0 response soon had VU in front only for Williams to strike from deep once again. With just one basket separating the teams heading into the second quarter, the game became a three-point shootout as sophomore guard Maddie Morrow connected twice from long range during a stretch of four consecutive combined triples from the two sides.

After a 12-3 run had the visitors ahead by 11, senior forward Yasmine Sifaoui provided her own 3-pointer six seconds before the halftime scoreboard showed Vanguard on top 41-33. Sifaoui drained another triple during Academy of Art's 10-4 start to the second half which was punctuated by a long ball from graduate student guard Emilia Dougherty. The teams exchanged baskets down the stretch but what had been a two-point game became nine at the end of the third and double digits in the fourth.

"The three-point shot was a key component this evening and we found it difficult to slow down those attempts tonight," said Head Coach Jesse Clark. "We made it a focus coming out of the locker room at the half and we were able to bring ourselves back into the game in the third quarter but unfortunately found it difficult to continue that effort. We will wake up tomorrow and be ready to go again."

Though ART U got straight points from senior forward/center Christy Ojide Boiko in the game's final three minutes, the Knights could not cut much further into the VU lead and fell 75-61 in the end.

"The major difference was adjusting our offense to their defense," Ojide Boiko said. "We didn't play within our strengths. We need to work on not playing as frantic as they wanted us to play and keeping everything easy."

Academy of Art, who moves to 6-2 on the season and 0-1 in PacWest action, saw Sifaoui improve upon her career-best from four days prior with a game-high 20 points on 9-for-15 shooting from the field. Ojide Boiko added nine points, four rebounds, and two blocks while Williams had nine points on three 3-pointers for the second consecutive outing. The seven assists for sophomore guard Lucia Revenga were a career-high.

Now 2-4 overall and 1-0 in conference play, Vanguard was paced by 18 points from Aryanna Hudson with Ashlin Crabtree's 17 points and Emma Schaaf's 16 points in support.

In a matchup of two teams tied for the same spot in this week's 2024-25 D2 College Sports Communicators Media Poll, ART U will host Point Loma this Saturday, Dec. 7 at 1 p.m. back inside Kezar Pavilion.