Dec. 22, 2008
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Sophomore Kathy Willinsky led the Broncos with a career-high 13 points Monday night, but the Santa Clara women's basketball team fell 72-54 to West Virginia at the Leavey Center. With the loss, SCU dropped to 1-12 on the season, while WVU improved to 9-2 overall.
Willinsky had her first career double-figure scoring performance against the Mountaineers. She shot 5-for-9 from the field, was perfect from behind the arc and at the free throw line. Sophomore Lena Gipson tabbed double-double No. 10, her eight straight with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Senior Elizabeth Doran added 11 points with three three-pointers and Sara Majors once again dished out a career-high seven assists.
The Broncos took control of the game early on and led by 14-point with 8:09 to play, 21-7. However, the Mountaineers took advantage of the under eight media timeout and came out fighting. WVU posted a 22-2 run to take control of the scoreboard and bring the first half to a close with a score of 29-23. The Mountaineers run began with a trey from Liz Repella and ended on a jumper from Takisha Granberry.
In the second half, West Virginia reached an 11-point lead on a jumper from Ashley Powell, 39-28, with 14:58 to play. The Mountaineers then climbed to a 22-point lead on three occasions. The final lead came with 41 seconds to play as Alex Sanabria scored a basket. The Broncos responded with back-to-back three pointers from Doran and Willinsky to cut the lead to 16-points, 70-54. Yet, WVU had the final say with a jumper from Ashley Powell with six second remaining.
For WVU, Repella led the game with 23 points. Granberry added 21 points, Sanabria had 11 points and Powell chipped in with 10 points. Sara Miles led the game with nine assists and five steals.
Santa Clara returns on Sunday, Dec. 28 against UC Santa Barbara. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at The Thunderdome.