Box Score BERKELEY, Calif. – Santa Clara basketball suffered its first loss of the young season at Cal on Wednesday night by a final of 71-56. The Broncos went into the second half with the lead but the Bears used a pair of second half runs to create a bit of distance that held up.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Santa Clara (1-1) went into the halftime break with a lead but a 9-0 run for Cal (2-0) early in the third quarter put them on top for good.
• After the Broncos got within five in the fourth quarter on a layup from Tess Heal at the 8:09 mark, a 6-0 Cal run stretched the lead out to double-figures.
• A 6-0 run behind four points from Ashley Hiraki gave Santa Clara a 24-20 lead in the second quarter.
• Later in the second, Olivia Pollerd scored five in a row, highlighted by a triple, to give the Broncos their biggest lead of the night at 31-26 with 3:26 left in the first half.

 
NOTABLE NUMBERS:

• Tess Heal led Santa Clara with 15 points while adding three rebounds and three assists. Olivia Pollerd scored 12 while Marya Hudgins grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, her career-high against a Division I opponent.
• Four players did most of the offensive damage for Cal. McKayla Williams (16), Kemery Martin (15), Marta Surez (15), and Ioanna Krimili (13) were all in double-figures. Williams also had a team best eight boards with Leilani McIntosh dishing out eight assists.
•  Cal was a little better from the field, shooting 46.7-percent to Santa Clara's 40.4-percent. Neither team shot well from downtown. The Broncos were 3-of-12 and the Bears were 5-of-23.
• Santa Clara won the battle of the class 35-33, including 12-10 on the offensive end.
• The defense of the Bears collected 10 steals and scored 14 points off of turnovers while the Broncos had six points off 12 Cal turnovers.

 
NEXT UP

• The Broncos host Hawaii at 1 p.m. for their home opener.