Feb. 27, 2010
Final Stats
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SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Portland senior Laiken Dollente scored 21 points and teammate Natalie Day added 11 - all in the second half - helping the Pilots take control of a close game and beat Santa Clara 67-64 in the regular-season finale for both schools.
Portland (18-11; 7-7 WCC) used a 7-0 run eight minutes into the second half to establish a lead and hang on for the win. Six-straight points came from Day who also made a clutch 3-pointer with 1:02 left.
Rhianna Faithfull made a baseline 3 for Santa Clara to make it a one-point game moments before Day answered on the other end. Faithfull and SCU seniors Maggie Goldenberger and Kimee Goeggel were playing their final collegiate games at the Leavey Center.
Faithfull made three 3s and Goldenberger matched a season-high with 12 points.
Santa Clara (3-26; 1-13 WCC) finishes the regular season tied with USF for seventh in the league standings. The Broncos tournament seeding will be determined when the official RPI ratings are published on rpiratings.com.The Broncos will be either the No. 7 or No. 8 seed and will most likely match up with Loyola Marymount or San Diego in the first round.
Santa Clara played with a purpose out of the gate Saturday, racing out to an 11-2 lead behind a series of quick baskets, bookended by an Alyssa Shoji 3. Shoji finished with a team-high 16 points for SCU, making 3 of 6 attempts from beyond the arc.
17 first-half points by Dollente allowed Portland an edge at halftime, 38-32.
SCU looked sharp in the opening stages of the second half, pulling within two, 40-38, at the 15:49 mark on Telisha Anderson's up-and-under basket in the paint. Anderson started for the fourth consecutive game, played 30 minutes, scored eight points and had four assists.
Trailing 47-41 with 8:24 to play, Faithfull and Goldenberger refused to let the Broncos go away quietly, scoring 10-straight SCU points in a three-minute span.
Clinging to a two-point lead with 4:33 left, Dollente and Day were able to push Portland in front and give the Pilots a six-point cushion with two minutes to play.
Santa Clara's Lena Gipson, the WCC's second-leading rebounder at 9.9 per game, finished with 12 boards and 12 points.