SCU Women's Basketball Opens 2008-09 Season At Fullerton

Posted: Nov 13, 2008

Nov. 13, 2008

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara women's basketball team opens the 2008-09 season this weekend against Fullerton and Minnesota. The Broncos and Titans will battle on Friday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. in Titan Gym in Fullerton, Calif. SCU then opens its home season by hosting the Golden Gophers of Minnesota on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. at the Leavey Center.

Follow Your Broncos Online
Every Santa Clara home game and most road games are covered live with GameTracker on the Internet via www.SantaClaraBroncos.com. In additional, all home games, select non-conference away games and all West Coast Conference contests will feature a live video broadcast featuring play-by-play from Sam Farber.

Last Time Out
Santa Clara defeated the Melbourne Roos, 60-42, Tuesday night it its lone preseason exhibition game. Sophomore transfer Lena Gipson led the Broncos with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Senior Claire Goins and redshirt freshman Becky Goll chipped in with 11 points each, while Goll compiled a 55.6 field goal percentage. Redshirt freshman Kelli Parker and true-freshman Alyssa Shoji were the assists leaders Tuesday night, dishing out three each. Parker also had two steals for the Broncos.

Last Season for the Broncos
SCU ended the 2007-08 season with a 20-11 overall record and an 8-6 West Coast Conference mark. The Broncos finished the regular-season in second and advanced to the semifinals of the WCC Tournament before falling 72-66 to the eventual champion, San Diego. Graduating seniors Chandice Cronk and Jen Gottschalk earned All-WCC honors, while Gottschalk was named to the league's all-tournament team. The Broncos produced some of the best moments in program history including the longest win streak in non-conference play since the 1999-2000 season (seven games), an undefeated month of December (6-0), an 11-4 start to the season that was the best start since the 2001-02 season.

Bronco Watch
Santa Clara is coming off a successful 2007-08 campaign in which the Broncos finished second in the West Coast Conference in regular season play and a third place finish at the WCC Tournament. Under the direction of first-year head coach Jennifer Mountain, SCU returns six letterwinners and two starters from last season and welcomes five talented newcomers.

Seniors Sara Majors, Elizabeth Doran and Goins are among the Broncos' top returning players this season. Majors was second on the squad last season with 171 rebounds and 109 assists. She also finished third on the team in blocks (14) and steals (39). Doran led the team with a 39.4 3FG percentage and 18 blocks. Goins shot 44.7 percent from the field last season and was third with an 82.6 free throw percentage.

SCU Newcomers
The 2008-09 women's basketball team welcomes junior college transfer Gipson and four freshman - Kendall Keith, Victoria Lokhorst, Lauren Orlando and Shoji - to its roster this year.

Gipson, a sophomore, was a NorCal State MVP in 2007-08 and earned All-America honors while leading the Fresno City College Rams to a school-best 35-3 record.

Keith was a four-time Mission Trail Athletic League honoree and averaged 14.0 points and 5.1 assists per game during her senior year at Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, Calif.

Lokhorst led the Chargers of Edison High School in Huntington Beach, Calif., to a Sunset League Championship in 2007-08 as she averaged a double-double with 10.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. She was also inducted into the Edison High School Hall of Fame for basketball as a senior.

Orlando earned all-league honors as a junior and senior at San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, Calif. She averaged 10.0 points per game.

Shoji led the Issaquah Eagles to four-straight Kingco 3A Championships and was named first team All-Kingco and MVP as a senior. In her final season, she averaged 15.0 points, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game.

Scouting Fullerton
The Titans open their season returning four of their five starters and nine letterwinners from last year. Fullerton finished with an 11-19 overall record and tied for fifth in the Big West with an 8-8 record. The Titans were picked to finish sixth in the Big West, while senior Toni Thomas was named to the preseason all-conference team. Thomas averaged 17.1 points and 7.9 rebounds last season, shooting 47 percent from the field.

Last Time vs. Fullerton
The Broncos and Titans last met in a New Year's Eve battle on Dec. 31, 2007. Santa Clara posted a 50-point rout of Fullerton, 88-38, at the Leavey Center. Cronk and Doran each dropped 19 points to lead the Broncos to victory. The scoring margin in that game 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 margins list.

All-Time vs. Fullerton
Friday's game marks the eighth overall meeting between the two programs with Fullerton owning a 4-3 edge.

Scouting Minnesota
The Golden Gophers will open the season against the Cardinal of Stanford before facing the Broncos on Sunday. Minnesota enters the new season after a 20-12 overall year and a 11-7 Big Ten finish in 2007-08. The Golden Gophers advanced to the NCAA Tournament, but fell in the first round to Texas, 72-55. Minnesota is receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches preseason poll. Minnesota is led by Emily Fox who averaged 17.2 points last season and had 81 steals, 133 assists and shot 42.9 percent from the field.

Last Time vs. Minnesota
SCU and the Golden Gophers last met on Dec. 11, 2004. Minnesota, then-ranked No. 16, won the game 69-42. Jamie Broback scored 21 points for the Golden Gophers, while Quinn Thomas had 12 points and Michelle Cozad had 10 points.

All-Time vs. Minnesota
Sunday's game marks the fourth meeting of the two programs in which Minnesota leads the series, 3-0.

On Deck
The Broncos return to action on Thursday, Nov. 20 against the Hornets of Sacramento State. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Leavey Center.