Jan. 4, 2010
SANTA CLARA (2-13) @ SAN DIEGO (8-6)
Friday, January 8 - 7 p.m.
Jenny Craig Pavilion (5,100) - San Diego, CA
SANTA CLARA @ ST. MARY'S (9-6)*
Sunday, January 10 - 2 p.m.
McKeon Pavilion (3,500) - Moraga, CA
LISTEN TO BOTH GAMES LIVE: SANTACLARABRONCOS.COM!
GAMES #16/17: The Broncos hope to get its conference season off to a good start when the team travels to San Diego to play a streaking USD team Friday night at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. SCU returns to the Bay Area to face local rival St. Mary's in Moraga at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
TV/RADIO/INTERNET: Fans can listen to both games this weekend live on SantaClaraBroncos.com. Sam Farber (play-by-play) will be calling the action courtside from San Diego and Moraga. Additionally, free live scoring will be available via GAMETRACKER for Friday night's game at USD on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
GAME NOTES:
# Jennifer Mountain is in her second season as Santa Clara head coach
# The Broncos are trying to snap a six-game losing streak
# Santa Clara's All-WCC forward Lena Gipson is averaging a double-double
# Gipson ranks No. 3 in the NCAA and leads the league with 9 double-doubles
# Gipson also ranks No. 24 among all NCAA players in rebounding (10.2 rpg)
# SCU's young backcourt combination of PG Alyssa Shoji and SG Meagan Fulps account for 41.1 % of the Broncos' offense
# Shoji leads the WCC in 3PT shooting (2.8 3FG pg)
# The Broncos are coming off a 75-64 home loss to SJSU, a game they led by 8
# San Diego has won three-straight and 5-of-6
# USD beat Nevada and Boston College to claim the Surf-n-Slam Classic title at the JCP
# Sophomore G Dominique Conners was named MVP, scoring 19.5 ppg
# USD was 19-13 last season which included two wins over Santa Clara
# Sunday's game features the best power forwards in the WCC (SCU's Lena Gipson and SMC's Louella Tomlinson)
# The Gaels reeled-off six straight wins in Dec. before losing their last two
# Both SMC and USD went 7-7 in WCC play last season
# Santa Clara prides itself on its community service activities and academic excellence.
...The team currently owns a 3.2 combined GPA
# LOOKING AHEAD: The Broncos will return home for three games Jan. 14 through 23, beginning with a Thursday night game with Pepperdine Jan. 14 at 7 p.m.
SANTA CLARA: A tie game late in the second half against San Jose State quickly got away from Santa Clara on January 2 and the Broncos dropped a 75-64 decision to their South Bay rival at the Leavey Center - a trend for an SCU team who has been in position to win a number of games. The Broncos have lost three at the buzzer and five by eight points or less since Dec. 6. Second-year head coach Jennifer Mountain has recruited some outstanding young players. SG Meagan Fulps (11.5 ppg) is the WCC's top scoring freshman. Sophomore PG Alyssa Shoji (13.7 ppg) - the team's leading scorer - made seven 3-pointers against No. 19 West Virginia Dec. 30 in Morgantown. Fulps scored a season-high 24 points at Pacific Dec. 13, the last time SCU won. Junior F Lena Gipson ranks second all-time in Santa Clara's 46 years of women's basketball history with a career rebounding average of 10.0.
SAN DIEGO: USD head coach Cindy Fisher has done a remarkable job, inheriting a team that went 9-19 and finishing 21-9 in her first season in 2006-07 - one of the best turnarounds in the nation that year. Sophomore guard Dominique Conners was named to the 2009-10 Preseason All-WCC First Team. Conners scores a team-leading 13.9 points per game and ranks second in the league in steals. After dropping three straight non-conference games at home to Arizona (65-55), UCSB (75-65) and UNLV (71-66) and falling to 3-5, the Toreros have rebounded to win 5-of-6.
ST. MARY'S: The Gaels have been up and down this season, enjoying a six-game December winning streak before losing their last two, at UCLA (83-58) and at Pacific (70-63). St. Mary's and Santa Clara played five common opponents during the non-conference schedule (UCLA and Pacific included). The Gaels beat CSU Bakersfield 94-80 at home on Dec. 16, the same CSU team that topped Santa Clara at the Leavey Center 78-76 just days earlier. Fourth-year head coach Paul Thomas seen All-WCC forward Louella Tomlinson already swat 105 shots this season and sharp-shooting guard Jontelle Smith shoot .420 percent from 3PT range.
THE SERIES: Both USD and SMC swept the regular season series with Santa Clara in 2008-09. However, Santa Clara routed St. Mary's in the first round of the 2009 WCC Championships in Las Vegas, March 6. The Broncos outscored SMC 46-19 in the second half of that game to win 82-55 and end the Gaels' season. The Broncos have lost 5-of-6 to SMC and four-straight to USD. Santa Clara leads the all-time series against both schools, 33-23 vs. SMC and 30-24 vs. USD.
LAST TIME OUT: San Jose State caught fire in the second half, using a 19-4 run to erase a Santa Clara lead and beat the Broncos in the Leavey Center 75-64. San Jose State (4-9) shot .583 from the field after halftime, getting 23 points from leading-scorer Chasity Shavers and 10 second-half points from Samantha Marez on 4-of-6 shooting. Santa Clara (2-13) - who led by as many as eight - found itself down by 15 with 4:03 left. Freshman guard Meagan Fulps poured in a team-high 19 for the Broncos. Lena Gipson posted her ninth double-double, totaling 14 points and 11 rebounds. It was the 47th meeting between the two Silicon Valley schools. Both teams open-up conference play next week.
WCC STANDINGS: 1. Portland (11-4) 2. Gonzaga (11-4) 3. Pepperdine (9-5) 4. St. Mary's (9-6) 5. USD (8-6) 6. LMU (7-7) 7. USF (4-12) 8. Santa Clara (2-13)
SCU & WCC LEADERS: Scoring: 8th- Shoji (13.7)/11th-Gipson (12.9)... Rebounding: 1st- Gipson (10.2)... FG%: 4th- Gipson (.546)... Assists: 7th- Shoji (3.1)... 3FG: 1st- Shoji (2.8)/7th- Fulps (1.5)... 3PT %: 9th-Shoji (.356)... Assist-Turn Ratio: 7th-Shoji (0.8)... Offensive Rebounds: 2nd- Gipson (3.3)... Minutes: 2nd-Shoji (35.7)/8th- Gipson (31.5)
NCAA LEADERS: Double-Doubles: 3rd - Gipson (9)... Rebounding: 24th- Gipson (10.0)... 3FG: 24th- Shoji (2.8)
RECENT RESULTS/UPCOMING GAMES:
L, 63-55 vs. CAL POLY (12/22)
L, 57-56 @ Robert Morris (12/28)
L, 78-55 @ West Virginia (12/30)
L, 75-64 vs. SAN JOSE STATE (1/2)
@ San Diego (1/8)
@ St. Mary's 1/10)
PEPPERDINE (1/14)
LMU (1/16)
NEXT HOME GAME: Santa Clara will host long-time WCC rival Pepperdine Thursday, January 14 at 7 p.m. The game is billed as `National Junior Basketball (NJB) Night.' Working through the Bronco Community Challenge, West San Jose's youth league received $1 tickets!
TICKETS: The SCU athletics department is offering a series of ticket specials To purchase tickets or for more information contact 408-554-4660.
*St. Mary's will host San Francisco Friday, Jan. 8