WATCH | EYEBRONCO's Highlights from the Game
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Despite an 11-point halftime lead, Santa Clara women's basketball lost to Pacific by a final of 61-59. The loss puts the Broncos at 5-6 overall and 0-2 in WCC play while the Tigers are now 10-3 and 2-0 in conference action.
Santa Clara shot 32.8% (19-58) from the field and 10.0% (1-10) from three. The Broncos had 55 rebounds, 13 assists, 28 turnovers, five blocks, and six steals. Taylor Berry led the offense with 10 points and nine rebounds. Beth Carlson, Marie Bertholdt, and Nici Gilday each scored nine points while Bertholdt added nine boards and four steals.
Pacific shot 32.3% (21-65) from the field and 18.2% (4-22) from three. The Tigers had 33 rebounds, 11 assists, 15 turnovers, five blocks, and 11 steals. Madison Parrish led the offense with 16 points on 4-12 shooting. Kendall Kenyon scored 15 with eight rebounds while Unique Coleman added 13 and six.
Carlson scored four of the first five Santa Clara points to put the Broncos on top 5-1 with 17:45 on the clock. Parrish converted a three-point play after a layup by Gilday to make it a one-point game.
A three by Erin Butler made it a two-point Santa Clara lead but Gilday came right back with a jumper and Berry followed it up with a three-point play. Berry's points made it 18-11 with 13:39 on the clock. Santa Clara went 6-7 from the field while the Tigers were just 1-10.
The Broncos would end up going on a 7-0 run over 2:12 to build a nine-point lead. Coleman ended the run with a short jumper at the 11:40 mark to make it 20-13. The lead would get up to double-digits for the first time after a free throw and a layup by Berry with the shot clock winding down.
Santa Clara kept the pedal to the metal and went on a 9-0 run over 3:03 to make the score 29-13. Carlson scored two layups in 17 seconds to help fuel the run. Kenyon ended the run with a floater in the lane. On the ensuing in bounds pass Coleman stole the pass and laid it in.
A 6-0 Pacific run over 2:02 got the Tigers within single-digits at 33-25. Morgan McGwire hit a layup to end a two and a half minute scoring drought for Santa Clara.
The Broncos grew the lead to 13-points but Parrish hit a three to make the score 39-29 with just over a minute remaining. Emily Wolph went to the line with 14 seconds left in the opening half and hit two but GeAnna Lauulu-Summers answered with one of two on the other end. Santa Clara couldn't score on the final possession of the half and went into the locker room with a 41-30 lead.
Santa Clara shot 59.3% (16-27) from the field without a three in the first half. The Broncos had 27 rebounds, 11 assists, 15 turnovers, three blocks, and four steals. Berry led the offense with nine points and four rebounds with an assist and a steal. Carlson scored eight with two boards while Gilday and Maddison Allen each scored six.
Pacific shot 22.2% (8-36) from the field and 15.4% (2-13) from three in the first half. The Tigers had 14 rebounds, three assists, six turnovers, two blocks, and six steals. Coleman led the offense with nine points on 4-6 shooting and had four rebounds. Parrish added nine points and two steals while Kenyon scored six with two boards.
A 6-0 run early in the second half by Pacific got it to a three-point game and prompted Santa Clara to call timeout. The Tigers were 3-3 from the field while Santa Clara was 0-6 and didn't score for 2:31. Berry hit one of two free throws to get Santa Clara back on the board but Pacific came right back with a fast break layup to make the score 43-41 with 15:13 on the clock.
Pacific took the lead 44-43 on a layup by Coleman at the 13:38 mark. Bertholdt tied the game with one of two from the free throw line. The tie was broken when Wolph slashed through the lane and converted a nice layup out of the under-12 media timeout.
With a one-point lead for Santa Clara, Bertholdt came up with a three-point play and drew an offensive foul on the other end to keep the momentum going for the Broncos. After several scoreless possessions for both teams Pacific came back with five straight points to take a 51-50 lead with seven and a half minutes left in the half.
Gilday drilled a three from the top of the key to give Santa Clara a two-point lead. The Broncos had been just 1-7 from the field before her bucket. Two more from the line from Bertholdt got Santa Clara back up four points with five and a half minutes to play. Raquel Avila hit two more from the charity stripe on the next Bronco possession to put them on a 6-0 run over a minute.
Santa Clara went cold from the field and didn't score for over four and a half minutes while committing five turnovers. Pacific was just 2-8 from the field during the same stretch. Parrish hit a three to put Pacific up 60-59 with just 49.1 on the clock. The Tigers were on a 7-0 run over 3:35.
A missed shot by the Broncos gave Pacific the ball and Parrish hit the front end of a one-and-one to make the score 61-59. Kristina Johnson went to the line with 3.7 on the clock but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Santa Clara couldn't get a shot off before the buzzer and the Tigers held on for the win.
Game Notes: Attendance was 320.