Nov. 21, 2007
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Santa Clara women's basketball team lost a hard-fought battle to Alaska Anchorage in the title game of the 2007 Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout Wednesday night at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage, Alaska. With the loss, the Broncos dropped to 3-2 on the season, while the Seawolves improved to 4-0 overall.
"We have to give credit to UAA," said head coach Michelle Bento-Jackson. "They played well and we just had too many defensive mistakes."
Seniors Chandice Cronk and Jen Gottschalk earned all-tournament team honors for their efforts in the two-day tournament. Wasilla, Alaska native, Chandice Cronk led SCU with 20 points and five rebounds against UAA, while Gottschalk had nine points and pulled down three rebounds.
"It was awesome to come back in my senior year and play in this tournament," said Cronk. "Although a win would have been a nicer end to the story, it was nice to have the opportunity to play in front of friends and family and hear that familiar sound coming from the stands like in high school."
Santa Clara set the pace for the first half starting with a game-opening three-point field goal from Elizabeth Doran. Although a nailed jumper and free throw by UAA's Rebecca Kielpinski tied the score, 3-3, SCU rallied on four treys from Cronk to take an impressive 21-5 lead with 8:22 left in the half. A quartet of free throws from Becky Goll continued the Broncos control of the scoreboard even though Kielpinski continued to narrow the gap scoring seven more points for the Seawolves. A jumper from Doran gave Santa Clara a 14-point edge, but Kielpinski added two more points fro UAA before the end of the half to make the score 31-19.
The Broncos hit their largest lead of the night, 15-points, on two occasions. The last time was on a good jumper from Cronk, 42-27. However, back-to-back layups from Lillie Parks began the Seawolves run at knotting the score. Six straight points from Kielpinski tied the score, 50-50 with 3:40 remaining in regulation. The two teams then exchanged possession 10 times winding down the clock and looking towards overtime before a deuce from Kielpinski with five seconds remaining gave UAA a 52-50 victory.
For the Seawolves, Kielpinski had a game-high 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Kalhie Quinones tallied nine points, four assists and three steals.
The Broncos return to the Leavey Center on Sunday, Nov. 25 to host the 49ers of Long Beach State. Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m.