SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's basketball came up just short in the season finale as Gonzaga left Leavey Center with a 68-61 win. The Broncos (14-16, 8-12 WCC) led at the half and made it a one-possession game in the fourth after the Zags (22-9, 17- 3 WCC) built a lead in the third, but the comeback effort wasn't quite enough.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Gonzaga got going a bit from deep midway through the first and used an 11-4 run to stretch a lead out to seven before ending the quarter up 15-10.
• Santa Clara fought back to take a lead in the second quarter by using a 9-1 run that made it 25-23. The Bulldogs came back with five in a row to retake the lead but a triple from Maddie Naro tied things up and, after a pair of Gonzaga free throws, Hannah Rapp's triple in the final minute sent the teams to the half with Santa Clara up 31-30.
• The Bulldogs started the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers and made it an 8-0 run to get up by seven in the early going. After the Broncos got the deficit down to two midway through the period, Gonzaga stretched it back out and led 50-42 heading to the fourth.
• A 7-0 run near the midpoint of the fourth saw Santa Clara get within 56-54 on Olivia Pollerd's triple. The Broncos deficit would be at two with 1:21 after a pair of free throws by Malia Latu but Santa Clara wouldn't score again and Gonzaga ice it at the charity stripe.

 
NOTABLE NUMBERS:

• Santa Clara shot 37.5-percent from the field and went 8-of-21 from beyond the arc.
• Gonzaga shot 44.0-percent and was 10-of-21 from downtown.
• Hannah Rapp scored a season-high 17 and pulled down 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Kaya Ingram added 16 with Pollerd scoring eight points, all in the fourth quarter, with five assists and four rebounds.
• Allie Turner led all scorers with 23 on 9-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Bree Salenbien scored 17 on 6-of-8 shooting and 3-of-4 from downtown.

 
NEXT UP

• The Broncos play in the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas Friday.