SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In the home opener, Santa Clara women's basketball beat Air Force by a final of 68-34 on Saturday afternoon. The Broncos were able to pull away in the second quarter behind a 12-0 run to pick up their first win of the year.
Santa Clara (1-2) was led by freshman Savanna Hanson who scored a game-high 15 points on 5 of 8 shooting from the field and was a perfect 5 of 5 from the charity stripe. She added seven rebounds. Taylor Berry scored 11 with five boards and five steals while Marie Bertholdt scored eight.
Air Force (0-3) was led by eight points from Cortney Porter. She added four assists and two rebounds as well. Dee Bennett chipped in six points and six boards.
The Bronco defense limited Air Force to 22.0% (9-41) shooting from the field and forced 30 turnovers.
"I thought we did some good things today, both offensively and defensively," said Santa Clara head coach JR Payne. "We have a lot of growing to do still but our effort was great and I'm excited about our season."
A fast break layup by Beth Carlson at the 3:21 mark in the second quarter put the Broncos up double-digits for the first time at 21-11. The Broncos would use the bucket to spark a 12-0 run over two and a half minutes while forcing five Falcon turnovers. Berry led the way with a pair of steals and two fast break layups. When Air Force finally got back on the board with a three, the Broncos held a 31-14 lead.
Santa Clara came out of the half and kept the pressure on the Falcons. Bertholdt scored the first six points of the half and Santa Clara started the half on an 11-0 run. The Falcons scored for the first time at the six-minute mark with a pair of free throws from Bennett.
The Broncos went on a quick 6-0 run in the first quarter over two minutes to get out on top 10-4. Hanson scored all six points for Santa Clara on two free throws and two layups. The quarter ended with the Broncos on top 12-7.
The Bronco lead got as high as 52-22 with 8:57 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Falcons didn't score for the final 3:42 of the game and Santa Clara sealed its first win of the year in convincing fashion.
Santa Clara returns to action Monday at 7 p.m. at No. 10 Stanford.