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Santa Clara University

240321 Team BYU 34717
Don Jedlovec, Santa Clara Athletics
59
BYU BYU 16-17,6-12 Big 12
60
Winner Santa Clara SCU 25-8,12-4 WCC
BYU BYU
16-17,6-12 Big 12
59
Final
60
Santa Clara SCU
25-8,12-4 WCC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
BYU BYU 9 18 14 18 59
Santa Clara SCU 14 9 16 21 60

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Women's Basketball Wins Thriller Over BYU in WBIT Opener

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's basketball did something it hadn't done in 32 years Thursday night: win a postseason game. The Broncos won a thriller 60-59 over BYU in the first round of the inaugural WBIT. After a hot start, Santa Clara fell behind but stormed back in the second half and came up with big play after big play down the stretch to seal the victory.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
  • Santa Clara (25-8) jumped out to a 7-0 lead and got it to 9-1 before BYU (16-17) made their first field goals, back-to-back 3-pointers to get within three. The Broncos would go the final 5:34 of the first half without a field goal but the Cougars went the final 4:41 without connecting from the floor and Santa Clara was up 14-9 after the first 10 minutes.
  • BYU got hot to close out the first half, making seven field goals in a row while the Broncos were just 4-of-18 for the period. During that time the Cougars would add an 8-0 run and take their first lead of the night. They went into the locker room with a 27-23 lead.
  • An 8-2 run for BYU at the start of the second half put Santa Clara down 10 but the Broncos answered back with 12 in a row, including 3-pointers from Lara Edmanson and Keeley Frawley, to get back in front. The Cougars, however, would close the quarter with a two-point lead.
  • The first five of the fourth went to Santa Clara before a 6-0 run put BYU back up three. Edmanson came up huge with back-to-back 3-pointers but once again the Cougars answered and took a two-point lead.
  • With 2:08 to go and the Broncos down 55-53, Edmanson connected on another triple and Tess Heal converted a pair of free throws after a technical was assessed to BYU's Kaylee Smiler. The Cougars were able to tie things up once again to set up a thrilling finish.
  • BYU had the possession with 48 seconds on the clock but a steal by Frawley gave Santa Clara the ball with 31 seconds to go. Heal made a tough layup with four seconds left to make it a 60-58 contest with just four seconds left. After a timeout advanced the ball, a miss by the Cougars led to an offensive rebound and a two-shot foul with 0.4 remaining. Lauren Gustin stepped up to the line, where she was just 1-of-4 at that point, and made the first but missed the second to put a rubber stamp on Santa Clara's victory.
 
NOTABLE NUMBERS:
  • Santa Clara ended the night at 33.8-percent form the floor but a good 10-of-22 from beyond the arc while BYU shot 42.3-percent and went 9-of-22 from deep. The big discrepancy came at the charity stripe. Both teams made six free throws but The Broncos came in eight tries while the Cougars came in 16.
  • Heal led all scorers with 17 points despite a tough day from the field at 7-for-25. She made up for it with six rebounds and six assists. Edmanson scored 16, her fourth in a row with at least 14, while connecting on a career-high four 3-pointers. Frawley and Ashley Hiraki both added eight points as well with Olivia Pollerd scoring six on a pair of triples to put her five away from the single season program record.
  • Amari Whiting scored 14 to lead BYU with Smiler scoring 13 and Lauren Davenport adding 20. Gustin scored six with 11 rebounds.
 
OTHER NOTES:
  • Santa Clara's last postseason win was a 73-71 win over Cal in Berkeley in the first round of the 1992 NCAA Tournament.
  • With her 12th point of the night, Heal set the program's single season scoring record with her 640th point of the year, passing Melissa King's 631 in the 1991-92 season. Heal now has 645 the season.
  • This was just the second home postseason game in the team's history.
 
POSTGAME COMMENTS:
  HIGHLIGHTS:
  NEXT UP
  • The Broncos head to Washington State to play Sunday.
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