Dec. 1, 2007
SACRAMENTO - Senior guard Chandice Cronk sunk a career-high 33 points Saturday afternoon to lead the Santa Clara women's basketball team to a 67-60 triumph over Sacramento State in non-conference action. Cronk was 10-for-24 from the field and nearly perfect at the charity stripe with a .800 free throw percentage. With the win, the Broncos improved to 5-3 on the season, while the Hornets dropped to 1-5 overall.
"As much as Sac State kept the lead in the second half, we had huge defensive stops in the last minutes of the game that really contributed to our win tonight," said head coach Michelle Bento-Jackson. "It was a huge team effort. They had the will to win and they played with tremendous intensity and determination."
Senior Tracey Walker also gave a helping happed scoring 14 points, a game-high five assists and two steals. Redshirt junior Sara Majors pulled down a team-best six rebounds and recorded three assists.
Cronk started things off for the Broncos less than a minute into the game with a steal and nailed jumper to put the Broncos on the board, 2-0. However, the Hornets answered back with a three-point goal from Erika Edwards and posted a 11-0 run to take control of the scoreboard. Santa Clara rallied back on points from Cronk to bring the score within in two and then a made layup off a fast break from Walker tied the game, 11-11. Yet, Sac State took control again jumped to a 16-11 lead. Santa Clara fought the tied the score again and with 7:58 remaining a layup from freshman Becky Goll evened the game at 21-21.
Made baskets from Cronk fueled the Broncos 8-0 run to widen the gap to six points, 29-23, with 3:50 remaining. Yet, the Hornets knotted the score again on free throws from Atty Boyer and ended the first half with a four-point edge, 33-29.
At the start of the second half, Sac State continued to push ahead solely on points from Boyer, 39-32. The Hornets earned a seven-point lead on two occasions, the last with 6:42 remaining in regulation. A three-point goal from Emily Christensen put Sac State up, 53-46. Yet, the Broncos rallied back to bring the score within one point, 53-52 on deuces from Gottschalk and Walker and a pair of free throws from Majors but were still unable to tie the score. Finally, with 1:20 remaining in the second half, three consecutive free throws from Cronk knotted the score, 58-58, and a three-point goal gave the Broncos final control of the scoreboard, 61-58.
Cronk's final trey of the night sparked the Broncos 9-1 consisting of sets of free throws from Elizabeth Doran, Jen Gottschalk and Cronk gave SCU the 67-60 win.
For the Hornets, Edwards scored a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Boyer was perfect from the free throw line (10-for-10) and registered 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
The Broncos return to action on Saturday, Dec. 8 against the Tigers of Pacific. Tip off is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Alex G. Spanos Center in Stockton, Calif.