MORAGA, Calif. – The two teams alternated big quarters and in the end Santa Clara women's basketball beat Saint Mary's by a final of 68-63. The Broncos (16-5, 6-2 WCC) had comfortable leads after the first and third quarters but both times the Gaels (11-9, 2-5 WCC) stormed back. A tough fourth shooting for Santa Clara nearly cost the Broncos the game but they came up big down the stretch to leave Moraga with the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED:Â
- Santa Clara scored eight in a row in the early going to get out to 10-5 lead and the lead would extend out to eight on the first triple of the night from Ava Schmidt at the 4:52 mark. A 3-pointer from Kylee Fox at the buzzer gave the Broncos a 20-12 lead after the first period.
- With Santa Clara up nine midway through the second, Saint Mary's went on a 10-0 run over 1:37 to take a 31-30 lead. The Broncos got back up by three with back-to-back buckets, but two free throws and a runner at the buzzer put the Gaels up 35-34 at halftime.
- Down one, Santa Clara went on an 11-0 run, started by an and-one from Schmidt and featuring triples from Maia Jones and Kate Schat, that made it a 53-43 game. The quarter ended with an and-one from Ashley Hawkins that gave the Broncos a 59-47 lead headed to the final 10 minutes.
- The fourth quarter was struggle to score for the Broncos who didn't make their first field goal of the period until the 5:44 mark. Up to that point, however, Saint Mary's hadn't taken advantage and Santa Clara was still up nine. After that point, the Gaels scored eight in a row to cut the deficit down to one and had a chance to take the lead on their next possession but Maia Jones came up with a block. With 17 seconds left, Jones found Schmidt under the hoop for an easy bucket to make it 66-63. Jones came up big again with a steal on defense and iced the game at the free throw line.
NOTABLE:
- Santa Clara shot 41.4-percent from the field and was 9-of-28 from beyond the arc.
- Jones and Schmidt led all scorers with 17 points each and Hawkins added 13. Jones and Schmidt both pulled down six rebounds with Delaney Miller grabbing nine and Tyler Gildersleeve-Stiles getting eight.
- Saint Mary's shot it at 40.9-percent but went just 3-of-17 from deep.
- Jada Hunter led the Gaels with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting and Abigail Shoff scored 14 on 6-of-12 shooting to go with six rebounds. Malia Latu scored 10 and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
- The Broncos are tied with the 2000-01 squad that also started the season 16-5.
POSTGAME COMMENTS:Â
HIGHLIGHTS:Â
NEXT UP
- The Broncos play at Seattle Thursday at 6 p.m.
