SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Finishing up a two-week road trip, Santa Clara women's basketball topped Pepperdine by a final of 65-54. The win puts the Broncos at 7-11 overall and 2-7 in WCC action while the Waves are now 6-14 overall and 1-8 in conference play.
Santa Clara returns to the floor Thurs., Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. vs. San Diego.
Santa Clara shot 48.1% (25-52) from the field and 37.5% (3-8) from three. The Broncos had 42 rebounds, 14 assists, 23 turnovers, four blocks, and five steals. Nici Gilday led the offense with 23 points on 9-16 shooting. Marie Bertholdt (13 points, 11 rebounds) and Taylor Berry (10 points, 12 rebounds) each had double-doubles.
Pepperdine shot 30.4% (17-56) from the field and 20.0% (2-10) from three. The Waves had 29 rebounds, 11 assists, 17 turnovers, two blocks, and 10 steals. Keitra Wallace led the offense with 13 points and five rebounds. Bria Richardson scored 12 while Ea Shoushtari added nine.
Gilday scored eight of the Broncos first 10 points and with two free throws at 15:19 made the score 10-5. After a bucket for the Waves, Emily Wolph drilled a three to make it a six-point game.
Santa Clara followed with a 12-0 run over three and a half minutes to build an 18-point lead. Six different Broncos scored two points each during the run while Pepperdine was 0-4 from the field with five turnovers. The run ended at 7:15 when Wallace converted a three-point play to make the score 26-11.
The Waves would end up going on a 7-0 run of their own behind Wallace's bucket and five free throws. A layup from Sidney Rielly with 2:39 remaining in the half ended the run and kept Santa Clara on top by 13.
A free throw by Wolph with one minute remaining made it an 11-point lead for the Broncos but Shoushtari hit a three and Richardson made a jumper to send the teams into the locker room with the score 30-24 Broncos.
Santa Clara shot 42.3% (11-26) from the field and 20.0% (1-5) from three in the first half. The Broncos had 19 rebounds, six assists, 12 turnovers, two blocks, and five steals. Gilday led the offense with 10 points on 4-7 shooting. Emily Wolph added six points while Berry and Bertholdt each scored four.
Pepperdine shot 29.6% (8-27) from the field and 25.0% (1-4) from three in the first half. The Waves had 16 rebounds, seven assists, 13 turnovers, one block, and four steals. Richardson led the offense with six points. Wallace and Tessa Emerson each scored five.
With Santa Clara up eight, the Broncos went on a 9-0 run behind five points from Bertholdt and four from Gilday. Devin Stanback hit two free throws with 15:15 on the clock to end the run and make the score 43-30.
Over 2:09 Santa Clara went on a 7-0 run to push its lead out to 20 with four minutes remaining in the game. Gilday scored all seven points, including hitting a three. Wallace made a free throw to get the Waves back on the board.
Pepperdine came roaring back with a 9-0 run over 2:53 to end the game but it was too little too late. Santa Clara didn't score for the final four minutes of the game and turned the ball over five times during the Waves run. Despite the run, Santa Clara won 65-54.
