PULLMAN, Wash. – Balanced offense and tough defense led Santa Clara to a 68-62 win at Washington State Thursday night in the first meeting of the two teams as conference foes. The Broncos (8-7, 2-3 WCC) defense stepped things up in the second quarter to build a lead over the Cougars (8-7, 3-1 WCC) and kept the advantage for the final 28:02 of the game.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The teams exchanged runs to start the game and then exchanged baskets for the rest of the first quarter with Washington State holding a narrow 20-19 lead after the opening period.
- A 3-pointer opened the second for the Cougars but they wouldn't score again for the next seven-plus minutes, going just 3-for-18 in the quarter. Santa Clara took advantage with a 12-0 run that put the Broncos on top by eight. They would end the first half on top 35-27.
- Santa Clara scored the first five points of the second half to build a game-high lead of 40-27. Later in the quarter, down 11, Washington State went on a 7-0 run near the end of the third that cut the Santa Clara lead down to just four, but Malia Latu stretched it back to 49-43 with a pair of free throws before the end of the quarter.
- The Cougars put together a 6-0 run over just 26 seconds with under a minute to go to make it a one-possession game but Latu went to the free throw line again and sank two more free throws to ice the victory.
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NOTABLE NUMBERS:
- Â Santa Clara shot 48.0-percent from the field and went 6-of-16 from beyond the arc.
- Washington State was held to 34.2-percent from the field and struggled from deep, going 5-of-30.
- The Broncos made 24 field goals while the Cougars made 25 despite Washington State attempted 23 more shots (73-50).
- Latu led all scorers with 21 points, including a perfect 7-for-7 from the charity stripe, and added five boards as well. Maddie Naro dropped 12 on 5-of-7 shooting with five assists and Kaya Ingram scored 11 on 4-of-6 shooting. Olivia Pollerd also cracked double figures with 10 points and added seven rebounds and three assists.
- Alex Covill was 7-of-7 from the field to lead Washington State. Eleonora Villa scored 13 with Tara Wallack recording a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
- Washington State came into the game second in the country in blocks per game (7.2) and total blocks (101) but had a season-low one.
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OTHER NOTES:
- Pollerd, who scored her 1,000th collegiate point in the last game against San Francisco, cracked the 1,000-point barrier at Santa Clara with her 3-pointer in the first quarter.
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HIGHLIGHTS:
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NEXT UP
- The Broncos play at Gonzaga Saturday at 2 p.m.
