SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In a matchup of two up-tempo teams, Santa Clara women's basketball fell to San Jose State by a final of 97-93. The loss puts the Broncos at 0-2 overall while the Spartans are now 2-0. The 93 points for Santa Clara was the most since a 96-76 win at Sacramento State on Dec. 22, 2011. This was the lowest offensive output for San Jose State this season.
Santa Clara returns to the floor Sun., Nov. 17 at 2 p.m. vs. UC Riverside.
"We just didn't get defensive stops tonight," said Santa Clara head coach Jennifer Mountain. "If you give up that many points you are going to struggle to win games. It's not often that 93 points won't be enough to win a gam.e We gave up way too many easy looks on the defensive end and that's what cost us. The half court game and them getting to the free throw line also hurt us."
Santa Clara shot 46.1% (35-76) from the field and 20.0% (3-15) from deep. The Broncos had 50 rebounds, 23 assists, 19 turnovers, three blocks and six steals. Nici Gilday led the offense with a career-high 25 points on 11-22 shooting while adding three rebounds and two assists. She set the previous career-high the previous game with 22. Vanessa Leo added 19 points on 8-14 shooting and seven boards while Montana Walters scored nine and had eight assists.
San Jose State shot 37.2% (29-78) from the field and 34.6% (9-26) from three. The Spartans had 50 rebounds, 10 assists, 14 turnovers, three blocks and 10 steals. Ta'Rea Cunnigan led all scorers with 29 points on 9-20 shooting. She added three rebounds and four assists. Classye James scored 16 points on 10-16 from the charity stripe and picked up four steals while Rebecca Woodberry scored 15 points with three three-pointers.
A three by Walters at the 16:05 mark put Santa Clara up 9-7 but San Jose State came back with a 7-0 run over 30 seconds. Cunnigan and Woodberry both nailed threes to highlight the run. Katie Hawkins knocked down a pair from the free throw line to end the run.
The Broncos got back within one on a layup by Leo but Jasmine Smith hit two from the charity stripe to make the score 18-15 Spartans with 13:34 left in the half.
Ruta Zurauskyte picked up her second foul at 11:51 and Riana Byrd made both free throws out of the media timeout to put San Jose State up five at 24-19. The teams exchanged buckets to make the score 26-21.
The Spartans got out on top by a game-high 10 points on a layup by Jasmine Smith with 9:22 remaining but Gilday went on her own 6-0 run over 45 second to get Santa Clara within four at 32-28.
San Jose State came right back with two free throws and a three ball to extend the lead back out to nine. Santa Clara proceeded to go on a 6-0 run over 33 seconds to get back within three at 37-34 at 7:09. The Spartans were 0-3 from the floor in that span.
The Broncos tied the game with 5:20 remaining on a deep two from Raquel Avila but San Jose State knocked down a pair of free throws to get back out on top 40-38. The Spartans would go on a 6-0 run over a minute before Gilday hit a baseline jumper with four minutes left in the half.
The Broncos went on a 9-0 run over the final 2:28 of the first half to take a 51-46 lead into the locker room. Gilday led the way with a three and a jumper while Santa Clara held San Jose State 0-4 from the field and forced four turnovers during the run.
Santa Clara shot 51.4% (19-37) from the field and 33.3% (2-6) from three in the first half. The Broncos had 25 rebounds, 13 assists, 10 turnovers, two blocks and four steals. Gilday led the offense with 17 first half points on 8-14 shooting. Arteivia Lilomaiava had seven points and four boards while Walters scored five points and had five assists.
San Jose State shot 33.3% (14-42) from the field and 26.7% (4-15) from deep in the first half. The Spartans had 24 rebounds, six assists, eight turnovers, one block and five steals. Cunnigan led the offense with 15 points on 5-9 shooting with three assists. Byrd scored eight points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Woodberry hit a three on the first possession of the second half to make it a two-point game at 51-49. Santa Clara came back with a pair of inside buckets before Woodberry hit another from deep.
San Jose State tied the game at 57-57 with 16:58 remaining on a three by Britta Hall. The Spartans took the lead off a Bronco turnover and a transition layup but Katie Hawkins responded with a bucket and a foul heading into the first media timeout of the second half.
The Spartans went on a 6-0 run over 1:15 to go up 69-63 with 13 minutes left in the half, forcing the Broncos to call timeout. Gallaway hit a three to end the run and make it a three-point game.
Down four, Leo made a layup and was fouled to get Santa Clara within one with 8:06 remaining. The Bronco defense forced a turnover but they were unable to convert on the offensive end to take the lead.
A layup by Lilomaiava put the Broncos back on top 79-78 with 6:11 remaining in regulation but the Spartans answered with a three from Hall to go back on top 81-79.
Over 49 seconds San Jose State went on a 6-0 run to go up 87-81 with four minutes remaining. Paine was followed but made the bucket to set up a three-point play after the final media timeout. Paine made the free throw to cut it to a three-point deficit.
A 6-0 run put the Spartans up 93-84 with 2:14 left on the clock. Paine ended the run with a short jumper off an inbounds pass. The Broncos promptly called a 30-second timeout to set up their defense.
Santa Clara got the ball down four points with 32 seconds remaining and Gilday was fouled on a loose ball. She stepped to the line and made a pair to get the Broncos within two at 95-93.
The defense forced a turnover but the offense returned the favor. Jayzyl Tauala was fouled with 2.5 seconds left in the half and made both to ice the game for the Spartans.
Santa Clara tried to go the length of the floor but San Jose State hung on for the 97-93 win.
Game Notes: Attendance was 240 in the first game of a double-header with men's basketball.
