SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Playing in the title game of the Radisson Chatsworth Thanksgiving Basketball Classic, Santa Clara women's basketball fell to Hampton by a final of 70-48. The loss puts the Broncos at 2-5 while the Pirates are now 5-2. Marie Bertholdt was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Santa Clara returns to the floor Sun., Dec. 8 at Fresno State at 2 p.m. in the Broncos lone game of the week.
"I thought we started off the ballgame really composed and taking care of the ball," said Santa Clara head coach Jennifer Mountain. "Then there was a string of turnovers that led to fast break points for them that really cost us. You can't get beat on the offensive glass and allow put backs like we did tonight."
Santa Clara shot 35% (19-55) from the field and 11% (2-18) from three. The Broncos had 40 rebounds, 13 assists, 21 turnovers, and four steals. Nici Gilday led the offense with 15 points on 6-15 shooting with a team-high seven rebounds. Bertholdt added 10 points and four rebounds while Montana Walters scored five points to go with six rebounds and three assists.
Hampton shot 38% (27-72) from the field and 35% (7-20) from three. The Pirates had 45 rebounds, 20 assists, 11 turnovers, two blocks and 10 steals. Alyssa Bennett led all scorers with 31 points on 14-31 shooting and seven rebounds. Malia Tate-DeFreitas scored 25 points on 9-19 shooting and had five boards.
Hampton started the scoring with a three form Nicole Hamilton but the Santa Clara offense started to click and after a free throw from Bertholdt with 16:11 on the clock, the Broncos held a 9-5 lead. Bertholdt followed it up on the next possession with an and-one heading into the first media timeout.
Santa Clara's 7-0 run ended with a pair of free throws by Tate-DeFreitas but Ruta Zurauskyte answered on the other end. She had the ball beyond the three-point arc but the defense stayed back so she took a few dribbles and knocked down the deep jumper. Walters followed with a three but the Pirates answered with one of their own to make the score 16-10 Santa Clara.
Hampton went on a 13-1 run over 3:28 to take a 25-19 lead with 8:04 remaining in the first half. The Broncos finally made a field goal on a jumper from Vanessa Leo at 7:33 to get within four points.
The Pirates outscored the Broncos 12-2 over the final 6:14 of the first half to head into the locker room with a 12-point lead at 37-25. Neither team scored in the final 2:59 of the half after Tate-DeFreitas made a three.
Santa Clara shot 44% (11-25) from the field and 11% (1-9) from three in the first half. The Broncos had 20 rebounds, six assists, 12 turnovers, and two steals. Gilday led the offense with six points and three rebounds with a steal and two assists. Walters and Bertholdt each scored five points with three boards while Raquel Avila added three rebounds.
Hampton shot 38% (14-37) from the field and 75% (6-8) from three in the first half. The Pirates had 20 rebounds, 11 assists, five turnovers, and five steals. Tate-DeFreitas led the offense with 16 points on 4-4 shooting from deep with three assists and two rebounds. Bennett added 11 points while shooting 5-17 with three rebounds and two assists.
Gilday got the Bronco deficit down to single-digits with a three from the top of the key. Hampton answered with a runner in the lane from DeFreitas that made the score 41-30 with 17:35 to go.
Bennett hit a baseline jumper with 12:45 left in the second half to make the score 51-35 Hampton. The Broncos called a timeout to regroup.
Santa Clara scored back-to-back buckets to make the score 51-39 with 9:54 remaining in the second half.
Hampton went on a 15-0 run over 2:46 to push the lead to over 20 points at 68-40. Santa Clara called a 30-second timeout during the run to get the offense going. The run ended when Gilday hit a free throw and followed it up with a three-point play.
Taylor Williams, Courtney Lisowski and Shelby Swofford entered the game with under two minutes remaining. It was the second game of the year for Williams and Lisowski and the first for Swofford. Hampton held on for the 70-48 win.