Nov. 18, 2001
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The Santa Clara University women's basketball team dropped its first game of the season to Minnesota by a score of 92-73 Sunday in the Championship game of the Golden Gopher Basketball Classic in Minneapolis.
Santa Clara (1-1), who won their season opener against Utah the night before, came out and shot poorly in the first half (37.5%) which led to a 15-point Minnesota (2-0) lead at halftime, 46-31. The Broncos allowed the Golden Gophers to rack up some impressive numbers in the first half, shooting 54.5% from the floor, including 3-6 from behind the three-point arc.
The second half was much of the same as the Golden Gophers continue their hot shooting, finishing the game 38-68 (55.8%) from the floor, including 4-of-8 (50%) from behind the three-point arc. Santa Clara did improve from the floor in the second half, finishing the game 26-67 (38.8%) from the floor but struggled from deep, going 7-of-27 (25.9%) from three-point land.
Kendra Rhea led four Broncos in double-digit scoring, racking up 13 points to go along with a game-high 12 rebounds. Becki Ashbaugh, Kim Butler and Caroline Gruening each added 11 points to round out the Bronco double-digit scorers. Ashbaugh also dished out a game-high eight assists for the second straight game.
Lindsay Whalen led a balanced Minnesota offensive attack, scoring 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor. Janel McCarville and Leslie Hill scored 14 and 13 points respectively, while Kadidja Anderrson chipped in 12 and Corrin Von Wald added 11 to round out the double-digit scorers for the Golden Gophers.
For their efforts over the weekend, Ashbaugh and Julie Butler were named to the All-Tournament team.
Santa Clara will return to action next weekend at the Washington Tournament on November 23 and 24 in Seattle, Wash. The Broncos will take on Princeton at 6 p.m. next Friday.