Santa Clara University

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — A hot start in the first quarter and a strong finish in the fourth Saturday carried the Santa Clara University women's basketball team to an important non-conference win over Big West Conference favorite and 2023 NCAA Tournament participant Hawaii, 62-51 in the Broncos' home opener at Leavey Center.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Broncos (2-1) came out firing on all cylinders in the first quarter, outscoring Hawaii (0-2), 24-10. Santa Clara shot 58.3% in those first 10 minutes. Six different Broncos scored points, led by Marya Hudgins with eight. The Broncos were a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line in the first period.
   
• Turnovers proved extremely problematic for the Rainbow Wahine throughout the first half. They committed nine in the first period alone. By halftime, Santa Clara had 17 of its 30 points off of 12 Hawaii turnovers.
   
• Santa Clara cooled off tremendously in the second quarter, shooting 1 for 9 before finally making its last two shots of the stanza. The Broncos also turned the ball over six times during that stretch, as Hawaii crept back into the game with only a six-point, 30-24, deficit at halftime.
   
• Hawaii pulled to within five points twice in the fourth quarter, thanks to 3-pointers from MeiLani McBee. Both times though, the Broncos had answers on the other end with 3-pointers of their own. First, it was Lara Edmanson who hit her first 3 of the season with 7 minutes, 11 seconds, to go. Four minutes later it was Olivia Pollerd who hit a 3-ball from the top of the key with 3:18 left to make it 55-47.
   
• Brooklyn Rewers led all players with 19 points for Hawaii. McBee finished with 16. The Rainbow Wahine also faced foul trouble most of the afternoon. Four different players had at least three fouls, two had four and Daejah Phillips fouled out with 4:34 left in the game.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 3: Three Broncos finished with double-digit points. Tess Heal led the team for the third straight game with 16 points. Edmanson had 13 and Hudgins had 10. It was the first time since last season's finale against Pepperdine at the WCC Tournament (March 2) that they had at least three double-figure scorers.
• 22: The Broncos forced Hawaii to commit 22 turnovers. It's the second time in three games this season they've forced their opponent into committing more than 20 turnovers (26 at San Jose State on Monday). They only had four such games in 2022-23.
• 81%: Santa Clara shot 81.0% from the free-throw line Saturday with a season-high 17 made free throws. It's the second time this season they've been over 80% from the line, and they haven't been below 70% in any of their first three games.

POST-GAME COMMENTS

Check out post-game comments from head @coachbillcarr following today's victory!??? pic.twitter.com/R7TyBJ3Dc2

— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) November 11, 2023

NEXT UP

• The Broncos' short two-game home stand concludes Tuesday when they host CSUN at 6 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets and find live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.