Dec. 31, 2007
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Chandice Cronk and Elizabeth Doran dropped 19 points each to help the Broncos ring in 2008 with a 50-point victory margin, 88-38, over CS Fullerton Monday evening at the Leavey Center. With the win, Santa Clara improved its overall record to 10-3 and pushed its current winning streak to six games, while Fullerton dropped to 1-10 on the season.
"We really challenged the team after Saturday's game and we couldn't have been happier with the way they responded to that challenge," said head coach Michelle Bento-Jackson. "They game out and played with intensity for all 40 minutes and our bench players did a great job of not letting up the momentum and intensity of the game."
The scoring margin ranks second on the list of largest victory margins at the Leavey Center, while checking in at No. 6 on the all-time largest victory margin list. Freshman Nicole Gall added a season-high 16 points to the Broncos win, while junior Claire Goins chipped in with a career-high 12 points. Freshman Kathy Willinsky also made her collegiate debut Monday night with two points and one rebound.
Although the Titans opened the game with a quick jumper from Alison Bennett, Cronk responded with a three-pointer to give Broncos control of the scoreboard, 3-2. Doran then added five points to Santa Clara's lead, 12-4, with a nailed jumper and a trey with 15:06 on the clock. SCU then went on a 10-0 rally on back-to-back three-pointers from Cronk and layups from Jen Gottschalk and Maggie Goldenberger to improve their lead to 29-10. Goins joined in on the action with a pair of layups to make the score 33-12.
Fullerton fought hard to start a rally on successful baskets from Ashley Richie, who led the team with 15 points. Yet, SCU claimed its largest lead of the first half, 32-points, on two occasions. The first was on a three-point goal from Doran with 3:07 remaining in the first half and the second was on a layup from Goins with 1:04 left. Bennett scored a deuce for the Titans with 36 seconds left to end the first half, 50-20. At halftime, the Broncos were shooting 72 percent from the field and were 7-for-8 from beyond the arc, with 21 of their points coming off the bench.
Richie started things off for Fullerton in the first half, but Sara Majors responded with a traditional three-point play to make the score, 53-22. The Broncos compiled a 17-3 run on points from Cronk, Doran, Gall and Majors to give Santa Clara a 47-point advantage, 80-33, with 9:07 remaining. SCU claimed its largest margin of the game, 55-points, with 3:45 left in the second half on a jumper from Willinsky, 88-33. However, Fullerton produced a five-point run, its longest of the contest, on a jumper from Montoya Fontenot and free throws from Fontenot and Richie.
The Broncos return to action on Friday, Jan. 4 against the Roadrunners of CS Bakersfield. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Leavey Center.