Women's Basketball Drops Game at Gonzaga

Women's Basketball Drops Game at Gonzaga

SPOKANE, Wash. – Santa Clara women's basketball fell at Gonzaga by a final of 76-49 Thursday night. The loss puts the Broncos at 7-14 overall and 2-10 in WCC action while the Bulldogs are now 18-4 overall and 11-0 in conference play.

Santa Clara returns to the floor Sat., Feb. 7 at 2 p.m. at Portland.

Santa Clara shot 38.8% (19-49) from the field and 27.3% (3-11) from three. The Broncos had 30 rebounds, eight assists, 20 turnovers, one block, and six steals. Raquel Avila led the offense with 15 points on 7-9 shooting from the field. Brooke Gallaway scored eight while Taylor Berry scored six with eight rebounds.

Gonzaga shot 45.0% (27-60) from the field and 38.1% (8-21) from three. The Bulldogs had 41 rebounds, 11 assists, 15 turnovers, seven blocks, and 12 steals. Keani Albanez led the offense with 22 points on 7-11 shooting. Sunny Greinacher scored 13 on 5-12 shooting while Shelby Cheslek added 10 points and nine rebounds.

The Broncos jumped out to a 10-6 through the first four and a half minutes of the game. The Bulldogs responded with a 12-0 run over 4:05 to get out on top by eight points. Marie Bertholdt ended the run with a layup at 11:05 to make the score 18-12.

Gonzaga came right back with a three from Albanez and a layup by Cheslek to go on top by double-digits for the first time. Back-to-back buckets by Avila made the score 23-16 with 7:46 left in the first half.

With the Zags up nine and five minutes left in the opening half, Santa Clara scored five straight points to get within four at 2:29. Georgia Stirton drilled a three to make it a seven-point game again.

After another bucket by Avila, Gonzaga went on a 6-0 run to end the first half and send the teams to the half with the score 38-27.

Santa Clara shot 43.3% (13-30) from the field and 33.3% (1-3) from three in the first half. The Broncos had 17 rebounds, six assists, 10 turnovers, no blocks, and four steals. Avila led the offense with 14 points on 7-8 shooting. Maddison Allen added five points and three boards while Berry scored four with four rebounds.

Gonzaga shot 50.0% (13-26) from the field and 55.6% (5-9) from three in the first half. The Bulldogs had 17 rebounds, five assists, 11 turnovers, four blocks, and four steals. Albanez led the offense with 15 points on 3-4 from deep. Greinacher scored five while Cheslek grabbed four rebounds.

Bertholdt made a free throw for the first point of the second half but Gonzaga followed with a 6-0 run over 1:18. Berry was able to end the run at 16:07 and made the score 44-30. Elle Tinkle didn't waste any time in responding on the other end with a three.

A 6-0 run for the Zags over two minutes put them up by 20 for the first time. Stirton led the way with four points during the run. The run ended when Avila made one of two from the free throw line at 12:31. Vanessa Leo followed with an offensive rebound and a layup to make the score 53-35.

Gonzaga went on a 10-0 run over 3:06 to get on top by 28 points while Santa Clara missed seven consecutive shots. The Broncos scoring drought ended when Gallaway made one of two free throws at 6:02 to make the score 70-43. A three from Emily Wolph on the next Santa Clara possession ended their drought from the field.

Both teams went cold in the final minutes of the game but Gonzaga won by 27-points.