Santa Clara Women Play at USF Saturday Night

Santa Clara Women Play at USF Saturday Night

Feb. 17, 2010

Game Notes in PDF Format Get Acrobat Reader

SANTA CLARA (3-23; 1-10 WCC) @ USF (4-24; 0-11 WCC)
Saturday, February 20 - 7 p.m.
War Memorial Gym (5,300) - San Francisco, Calif.

LISTEN LIVE: SANTACLARABRONCOS.COM

GAME #27: Santa Clara University and local rival, the University of San Francisco, play Saturday night at War Memorial Gym on the USF campus. The Broncos are trying to sweep the season series with USF, having beaten the Dons 54-47 earlier in the year. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

TV/RADIO/INTERNET: A live audio broadcast will be available on Santa Clara's official athletics website (SantaClaraBroncos.com). Sam Farber (play-by-play) will call the action courtside from War Memorial Gym. Additionally, free live scoring can be accessed via GAMETRACKER on (SantaClaraBroncos.com).

GAME NOTES:
# Jennifer Mountain is in her second season as Santa Clara head coach
# With a victory, SCU can clinch the No. 7 seed in the WCC Tournament and assure USF of the No. 8 seed
# USF has lost 17-straight
# SCU is trying to snap a six-game losing streak, its last win coming against USF
# The Broncos beat the Dons 54-47 Jan. 23 in Santa Clara
# SCU point guard Alyssa Shoji is in the midst of a break out season, she is scoring 21 points p/g in SCU's last three outings
# Shoji leads the WCC in 3PFG (2.8 p/g) and ranks No. 24 in the NCAA
# Shoji's 72 three-pointers this season ranks 5th all-time in SCU history
# All-WCC junior forward Lena Gipson has moved into 9th on SCU's career rebounding list with 564
# USF led at halftime Sunday vs. LMU but eventually lost 58-48
# The Dons are scoring a league-low 53.4 points per game
# Rheina Ale is the only Don averaging in double-figure scoring (13.5 ppg)
# Santa Clara leads the WCC in 3PT FG (6.5 p/g)
# The Broncos are extremely young, 11 of their 15 players are underclassmen
# UP NEXT: Santa Clara will finish the regular season playing Gonzaga (THU) and Portland (SAT) at home next week, Feb. 25 and 27
# Saturday, Feb. 27 the SCU program will recognize its final-year players on `Senior Night,' Maggie Goldenberger, Kimee Goeggel and Rhianna Faithfull

SANTA CLARA: The Broncos were sluggish in the first half during both games of its Los Angeles road trip last weekend. LMU used a press defense to lead by 13 points at halftime before the Broncos asserted themselves in the second half - cutting the lead to a basket before falling by 12. Saturday at Pepperdine was eerily similar, trailing 32-10 after the first 15 minutes. Despite a lopsided record, Santa Clara has been competitive in most every league game this season. SCU sophomore point guard Alyssa Shoji made 10 three-pointers in the two games and continues to lead the WCC in 3-point shooting. Shoji is scoring a team-high 14.2 points per game and has raised her two-year career average into double-figures. Freshmen guards Ashley Armstrong and Telisha Anderson continue to play extended minutes in the backcourt, surrounding one of the WCC's most outstanding forwards - Lena Gipson. Gipson owns 31 double-doubles (points-rebounds) in 57 career games at SCU. If the Broncos can beat USF Saturday they would clinch a spot in the 6 vs. 7 game in the first round of the upcoming WCC Tournament.

USF: The Dons have not won since beating Pacific on the road December 10. Scoring points has been a problem for USF, reaching the 50-point mark just three times in their last eight games. USF is 2-7 on its home floor - claiming a pair of early-season wins back on November 20 and 22, knocking-off Cal State Fullerton 71-63 and Utah State 57-48. Similar to Santa Clara, the Dons turn the ball over 18-plus times per game. Sophomore guard Vania Singleterry is coming off a career-high 16 point performance against LMU. The bulk of the offense has come from sophomore guard Rheina Ale who is scoring 13.5 points, starting in all 28 games. USF was 7-22 overall last season, 3-11 vs. WCC.

THE SERIES: The two Bay Area schools will be playing for the 80th time on Saturday. SCU won 54-47 earlier this season. The teams split last year's matchups, both winning on their home floor. Santa Clara won 20-of-23 from 1997 through 2007. More recently the series has been more evenly matched, with each team winning three of the past six prior to the Broncos' win at the Leavey Center in January. USF leads the all-time series 44-35.

LAST TIME OUT: Santa Clara fought their way back into a game they trailed by 22 but Pepperdine was able to hold on for the win, 65-51, Saturday in Malibu. Pepperdine (16-8; 7-3 WCC) raced out to 17-point lead, fueled by the play of All-WCC forward Miranda Ayim - who single-handedly outscored the entire Bronco team throughout most of the first half. The Waves cleared 30 offensive rebounds and used a full-court press to force SCU into 16 first-half turnovers. After six minutes of play Santa Clara had more turnovers than shot attempts. Meanwhile, Ayim was pouring-in 29 points, matching a career-high she set in Pepperdine's 16-point win over the Broncos January 14 at Santa Clara. Santa Clara (3-23; 1-10 WCC) was led by the outside shooting of Alyssa Shoji and the inside play of Lena Gipson. Shoji made six 3s and scored a team-high 20 points. Gipson had a career-high five blocks to go along with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

QUOTABLE:
"They hit three 3s on us in a matter of a minute and a half," said Santa Clara head coach Jennifer Mountain when asked about LMU pulling-away for the win Thursday in Los Angeles. "That shut us down. But the bottom line is, you can't play one half on the road and expect to win against anyone in our conference."

SCU 54, USF 47 (JAN. 23): Santa Clara's defense held USF to one basket during a seven-minute span down the stretch and the Broncos beat the Dons 54-47 at the Leavey Center. SCU freshman guard Meagan Fulps scored a game-high 18 points while Lena Gipson and Becca Thomas combined for 19 rebounds. Santa Clara (3-17; 1-4 WCC) built up a 12-point lead late in the second half, thanks largely to the offense supplied by Fulps - the top scoring freshman in the West Coast Conference. "Meagan (Fulps) did a great job of getting to the rim and making things happen," said Santa Clara head coach Jennifer Mountain. "This wasn't the prettiest of games but credit our players for taking control defensively and crashing the boards. That was the difference for us." USF (4-18; 0-5 WCC) shot just 24 percent from the field (16-for-65). Rheina Ale made three of her 15 attempts and scored a team-high 11. The Dons have lost 11-straight.

RECENT RESULTS/UPCOMING GAMES:
L, 67-58 vs. SAN DIEGO (2/6)
L, 73-61 @ LMU (2/11)
L, 65-51 @ Pepperdine (2/13)
@ USF (2/20)
vs. GONZAGA (2/25)
vs. PORTLAND (2/27)

WCC STANDINGS:
1. Gonzaga (10-0)
2. St. Mary's (9-2)
3. Pepperdine (7-3)
4. San Diego (6-5)
5. Portland (5-5)
6. LMU (4-6)
7. Santa Clara (1-10)
8. USF (0-11)

WCC TOP 10: Scoring: 9th- Shoji (14.2) ... Rebounding: 2nd- Gipson (9.9) ... FG%: 3rd- Gipson (.535) ... Assists: 8th- Shoji (2.8) ... 3FG%: 10th- Shoji (.336) ... 3FG: 1st- Shoji (2.8)/7th- Fulps (1.6) ... Blocks: 9th- Gipson (0.7) ... Offensive Rebounds: 2nd- Gipson (2.8) ... Defensive Rebounds: 2nd- Gipson (7.0) Minutes: 2nd-Shoji (36.2)/5th- Fulps (33.6)/10th- Gipson (31.6)

NCAA LEADERS: Double-Doubles: 20th - Gipson (12) ... Rebounding: 32nd- Gipson (9.9) ... 3FG: 24th- Shoji (2.8)

WCC 2010 ZAPPOS.COM BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS (LAS VEGAS, NV):
Tickets for the 2010 Zappos.com West Coast Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas are now on sale. The championships will span 4 days - March 5-8, 2010 - and include 14 men's and women's games, with tickets starting at less than $10 per game. The 2009 WCC Basketball Championships were the most highly anticipated championship event in Conference history, reaching a sell out two weeks prior to the tournament last March. The event set championship records for single session attendance (7,845) and overall championship attendance (33,320).

Friday, March 5
Women's First Round Session Game 1 (5 vs. 8) - 12:00 PM
Women's First Round Session Game 2 (6 vs. 7) - 30 mins after Game 1

Men's First Round Session Game 1 (5 vs. 8) - 6:00 PM
Men's First Round Session Game 2 (6 vs. 7) - 30 mins after Game 1
Saturday, March 6
Women's Quarterfinal Round Session Game 1 (5/8 vs. 4) - 12:00 PM
Women's Quarterfinal Round Session Game 2 (6/7 vs. 3) - 30 mins after Game 1

Men's Quarterfinal Round Session Game 1 (5/8 vs. 4) - 6:00 PM
Men's Quarterfinal Round Session Game 2 (6/7 vs. 3) - 30 mins after Game 1
Sunday, March 7
Women's Semifinal Round Session Game 1 (5/8/4 vs. 1) - 11:30 AM
Women's Semifinal Round Session Game 2 (6/7/3 vs. 2) - 30 mins after Game 1

Men's Semifinal Round Session Game 1 (5/8/4 vs. 1) - 5:30 PM (ESPN 2)
Men's Semifinal Round Session Game 2 (6/7/3 vs. 2) - 7:30 PM (ESPN 2)
Monday, March 8
Women's Championship - 12:00 PM (ESPNU)
Men's Championship - 6:00 PM (ESPN)