Jan. 20, 2007
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - For the second meeting in a row, the Santa Clara Broncos and San Francisco Dons needed extra time to settle their differences, and once again, the Broncos prevailed. Chandice Cronk's career-high 30 points led three SCU players scoring in double figures as Santa Clara pulled away in the second overtime period for the 89-83 win Saturday night.
The Broncos (11-9. 3-2 WCC) will now take to the road next weekend for the annual L.A.-area swing, battling the Pepperdine Waves Thursday night, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. in Malibu before heading to Gersten Pavilion for a 2 p.m. contest Saturday afternoon, Jan. 27 against the Loyola Marymount Lions.
Cronk's 30 points led all scorers on the night, with 16 of those coming in the second overtime period. Jen Gottschalk added a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Tracey Walker scored 13 and had five big steals for the Broncos. Cronk and Ashley Gonnerman each grabbed seven rebounds while Kasey Monteith had six.
"In the second overtime, Chandice was not only making the big shots for us, but she was taking it a step further by doing such a phenomenal job of running her defender off of screens," said head coach Michelle Bento-Jackson.
"Teams are focusing a lot on our three-point shooting in conference play, so now we're just trying to find different ways to score," Cronk said afterwards. "Tracey's layup late in regulation and Anna's three in the first overtime showed how we can rely on anyone at any time to hit the big shot for us."
Despite holding a 12-point lead at 47-35 with 9:55 to play, the Broncos frittered away the lead in just under five minutes, as seven of Lisa Olden's 20 points on the night fueled an 18-6 USF run that tied things up at 53 apiece. Olden led four Dons scoring in double figures, while Nickie Warren, with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Shay Rollins with 12 points and 11 boards each turned in double-double efforts. Dominique Carter also added 14 points.
Playing from behind to the end of regulation, the Broncos kept within a possession of the Dons, and after Olden hit only one of two free throws with 41 seconds left, Walker charged down the court and scored on a driving layup to tie things up at 63-63 with 33.2 second left. After Olden missed a pair of jumpers on the USF end, Ashley Graham's jumper for the win rimmed out as time expired.
In the first overtime, USF held the lead for the first 4:51, until Anna Martin completed SCU's comeback from a five-point deficit in the final 50 seconds by swishing a three-pointer. The defense then took over and denied the Dons a shot at the win on the other end.
"Our defense was a major factor tonight, every stop that we got was crucial, and that's what helped carry us to the win," said Walker.
Finally, Cronk took over in the second session of overtime, answering Olden's jumper with a three to give SCU its first lead since the 53-53 tie in regulation. After the teams traded hoops in the ensuing possessions, Cronk drilled another three to put SCU up 78-76 with 2:34 left. After Walker's steal with a minute and a half to play, Cronk hit her third three of the extra session to give SCU a five-point advantage at 81-76. From there, Cronk hit seven of eight free throws to ice the game for SCU.
In the first half, Santa Clara held the lead the entire way, building the lead up to 12 multiple times before taking a 35-28 lead into the break.