EUGENE, Ore. – Finishing non-conference play, Santa Clara women's basketball fell to Oregon by a final of 92-88 in double overtime. The loss puts the Broncos at 5-4 overall while the Ducks are now 6-3.
Santa Clara returns to the floor Sat., Dec. 27 at 2 p.m. vs. Saint Mary's at the Leavey Center for the start of WCC play.
Santa Clara shot 39.2% (31-79) from the field and 33.3% (5-15) from three. The Broncos had 51 rebounds, 15 assists, 17 turnovers, two blocks, and seven steals. Nici Gilday led the offense with 29 points on 10-29 shooting with eight rebounds. Raquel Avila scored 11 points with four rebounds and five assists while Marie Bertholdt scored 16 with nine boards.
Oregon shot 41.9% (31-74) from the field and 47.4% (9-19) from three. The Ducks had 43 rebounds, 14 assists, 15 turnovers, four blocks, and five steals. Lexi Bando led the offense with 28 points on 11-16 shooting. Jillian Alleyne grabbed 20 boards with 16 points while Lexi Petersen scored 24.
With Santa Clara down 9-6 both teams went almost two minutes without scoring until Gilday made a layup. She followed it up with two free throws to put Santa Clara up 10-9.
Santa Clara would get out on top 15-11 at the 13:51 mark on a jumper by Emily Wolph. Oregon used an 11-0 run over 4:17 to take a 22-15 lead. The run finally ended when Gilday hit a jumper in the paint at 8:11.
Rielly would hit a three a minute later and Bertholdt would tie the game at 22-22 with a pair from the charity stripe. After exchanging baskets the Ducks would then go on a 7-0 run until Beth Carlson made a layup with 3:18 left in the half.
Santa Clara would finish out the first half with a 35-34 lead.
The Broncos scored the first six points of the second half to go on top 41-34. Katelyn Loper ended the run with a jumper at 16:50 that made it a five-point game.
Santa Clara answered back with seven straight over a minute and a half. Bando connected on a three but Maddison Allen came right back with a layup to make the score 50-39.
With 6:25 remaining in the half Avila made a steal and went the distance for a layup to put Santa Clara up a game-high 14.
The Ducks came back with an impressive 13-0 run over 3:51 to make it a one-point game with 1:07 remaining in the second half. Petersen capped the run with a jumper. Avila would hit one of two from the line with 17 seconds on the clock to make it a two-point game.
Petersen made a layup with just six seconds remaining to tie the game at 70-70 and send it to overtime.
Both teams scored six points in the first overtime. After a call was overturned that would have give Santa Clara the ball, Oregon went the length of the court in four seconds but missed a contested layup that would have ended the game.
A free throw for Oregon put the Ducks up one but Gilday drilled a three to make it 79-77 Broncos with 4:35 on the clock in the second overtime.
Oregon would come back to tie the game and a layup by Tatum Neubert with three minutes left gave the Ducks the lead at 83-81. Oregon would never relinquish the lead and get it up to as many as six with 35 seconds left. The Ducks held on for the 92-88 win.
