Dec. 19, 2001
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Senior guard Caroline Gruening led the Santa Clara University women's basketball team to a 20-point victory over Temple 86-66 in non-conference tonight at the Leavey Center.
She posted a game-high 16 points and added six rebounds and five assists in the all-around effort to improve Santa Clara to 8-2 on the season. Athena Christoforakis led the Owls with 12 points and seven rebounds, but saw her team's record fall to 3-5 on the season.
The Broncos shot 54.2 percent from the field, the first time this season the team's surpassed the .500 mark. Three other Broncos reached double-figure scoring, including junior forward Kendra Rhea's 14-point performance on 7-9 shooting. Senior guard Becki Ashbaugh added 13 points and nine assists, while junior forward Tammy Annas posted 12 points and six rebounds.
Both squads opened the game with lots of offense, trading baskets, including a coast-to-coast lay-in by Ashbaugh to put the home team ahead 11-10. SCU went on a 15-5 run late in the first half that saw Rhea knock in four baskets in four minutes as she went 5-6 in the half with the team shooting 59 percent as it took a 42-25 lead at intermission.
Temple pulled within 12 in the second period, but that's as close as they would come, as a Gruening three rattled out before falling in to spur another Bronco run to push the lead back up to 17. A two-pointer by junior forward Julie Butler gave the Broncos their biggest lead, a 21-point margin midway through the period.
The Broncos remain at home and will host Portland State on Friday at 7 p.m. Santa Clara returns to the Leavey Center after the holidays and hosts CS Northridge at 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 29.