Jan. 24, 2008
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - With one second remaining and the score tied 64-64, senior guard Chandice Cronk was sent to the free throw line after San Diego committed a technical foul to give Santa Clara their third straight West Coast Conference win with a 66-64 victory at the Leavey Center. The technical, which was issued to the team, was called after the Toreros' Amanda Rego called for a timeout when none were remaining. With the win, the Broncos improved to 14-4 on the season and 3-1 in WCC play, while the Toreros are even at 9-9 overall and dropped to 0-4 in league action.
"Every win is so important and we had built a good momentum at the end of the game," said head coach Michelle Bento-Jackson. "We didn't play as well as we would have liked, but we pulled off the victory and we need to play well on Saturday against San Francisco."
Cronk led all players with 26 points, while Tracey Walker added 20 points and Jen Gottschalk registered her seventh double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high and career-best 15 rebounds. The win was the Broncos first against the Toreros at the Leavey Center since the 2003-04 season.
The Broncos were off to a slow start in the first half and were unable to create a substantial lead. Santa Clara tied the score on three occasions, but it wasn't until a three-pointed from Cronk, 34-32, that SCU was able to gain control of the scoreboard. The Broncos then pushed their way to a 45-36 lead at halftime on successful efforts from Gottschalk, Walker and Cronk.
Coming back from the break, SCU saw its lead crumble as USD came within one point, 49-48, on a layup from Amada Rego. The Toreros then tied the game at 55 points with 5:59 left. The two teams then battled through four more ties. With 1:36 left, a layup from Gottschalk put the Broncos up by two points, 64-62, but the Toreros answered with a jumper from Rego with just eight seconds left to tie the score, 64-64. After both teams exhausted their remaining timeouts, the Toreros were cornered in the Broncos half of the court. From the court Rego called for a time out. With no timeouts remaining for the Toreros, a technical foul sent Cronk to the charity stripe, who successfully made both shots and gave Santa Clara the win.
For San Diego, Amber Sprague registered 18 points and Rego added 16 points and a team-best 13 rebounds. Morgan Henderson also tallied double-figures for the Toreros with 10 points.
The Broncos return to action on Saturday, Jan. 26 against the Dons of San Francisco. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Leavey Center.