Dec. 28, 2008
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Sara Majors scored a game-high 17 points Sunday afternoon, yet the Santa Clara women's basketball team fell 55-37 at UC Santa Barbara. With the loss the Broncos fall to 1-13 on the season, while the Gauchos improved to 4-6.
Majors shot 71.4 percent from both the field and the free throw line. She also knocked down a game-high two three-pointers. Sophomore Lena Gipson led the team with eight rebounds. She also had seven points.
UCSB led 27-16 at the end of the first half, shooting 37.9 percent to the Broncos' 22.7 percent. Lauren Pedersen put the Gauchos on the scoreboard 40 seconds into the game, but a jumper from Gipson knotted the score, 2-2. The score was tied again, 4-4, on a basket from Maggie Goldenberger. UCSB reclaimed a two-point lead on a jumper from Whitney Warren at 16:28. The two teams were then held scoreless until 13:38 when Jordan Franey put the Gauchos ahead by four-points, 8-4. The Broncos broke the silence at the 11:17 mark with Majors' first trey of the night, 13-7, but SCU could not catch up.
The Broncos fought hard in the second half but could not minimize the gap. UCSB reached a game-high lead of 23 points on four occasions late in the second half. The Broncos made it a 21-point game with 3:20 left with a layup from Alyssa Shoji and then a 20-point game with a layup from Majors. Rhianna Faithfull scored the last basket of the game, a three-pointer, with just one second on the clock.
For the Gauchos, Pedersen had 14 points and a game-high five steals. Jenna Green had 11 points, while Ashlee Brown registered a game-high nine rebounds.
The Broncos ring in the New Year with a cross-town rivalry match against the Spartans of San Jose State on Saturday, Jan. 3. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. the Event Center in Downtown San Jose. It is Santa Clara's final non-conference game before the beginning of West Coast Conference action on Jan. 8 against Saint Mary's.