Nov. 9, 2007
RENO, Nev. - The Santa Clara women's basketball team fell 62-51 to Nevada Friday night in both teams' season openers. Leading the way for the Broncos were Elizabeth Doran (Corvallis, Ore.), who registered 16 points, and Chandice Cronk (Wasilla, Alaska), who tallied 12 points.
Also helping out SCU was senior Jen Gottschalk (Littleton, Colo.) as she posted nine rebounds and five steals. Meanwhile, freshman Rhianna Faithfull (Sydney, Australia) earned her first collegiate start and dished out two assists.
It wasn't until three minutes into the game that the first points were scored as Doran put up her first of two treys. Yet, the Wolf Pack's Brandi Fitzgerald tied the score a few seconds later and a jumper from Jennifer Gross at the 15 minute mark gave Nevada a two-point lead, 5-2. Freshman Becky Goll (Portland, Ore.) saw her first collegiate minutes Friday night as she helped keep the Broncos alive in the first half as the Wolf Pack jumped to a 21-point advantage, 28-7, on a free throw from Shavon Moore. The largest lead of the game was earned on another free throw from Moore, 32-10, before the Broncos rallied back to diminish the gap to 32-17 on a three-pointer from Doran before the end of the half. Nevada tacked on two more points on free throws and sent the game into halftime with a score of 34-17.
The Broncos found their burst of energy during the break and came back in the second half to start off with a 10-3 run to cut the deficit to 10 points and make the score 37-27. Freshman Kelli Parker (Lemoore, Calif.), Cronk, Doran and Gottschalk all put the ball in the basket for the Broncos during that run. Gottschalk secured her second three-point field goal of the evening to bring SCU within nine points, 41-32, but Nevada created its own 7-0 run to take a 16-point lead, 48-32, on a solid jumper from Marissa Hammond. Santa Clara continued to fight to tie the score and in the third minute, a layup from Cronk made the score 57-51. However, SCU was halted as it found itself in foul trouble and Nevada added five more points on free throws to end the game, 62-51.
For the Wolf Pack, Mikail Price registered a game-high 22 points and six steals, while Moore added 10 points and a team-best five rebounds.
Santa Clara returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 13 on the road at Washington State. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Friel Court in Pullman, Wash.