SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – In its first action since taking down No. 13 Stanford on the road, Santa Clara women's basketball beat Cal Poly 69-63 on Friday afternoon. The Mustangs got within one in the third quarter but the Broncos led the entire way and collected their third-straight win.

Santa Clara (3-2) hit a season-high seven threes on the day and held the advantage in rebounds 41-34. The Bronco defense forced 17 Mustang turnovers that led to 20 Santa Clara points.

"The best thing about the win today is that Cal Poly is very much like a West Coast Conference opponent," said Santa Clara head coach JR Payne. "They're very skilled and have a lot of talent at multiple positions. They are known as a team that plays really hard and our focus coming into this game was to match that toughness and outwork them."

Morgan McGwire led all scorers with a career-high 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Lori Parkinson collected a double-double, her first as a Bronco, with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Taylor Berry set a career-high with six assists and added six boards.

"Morgan [McGwire] is really coming into her own this year," said Payne. "She's really confident right now and is playing tough basketball. She worked hard this spring and summer and now she's starting to see the fruits of her labor.

Beth Balbierz led the Mustangs (2-3) with 16 points to go with four assists. Hannah Giblert had a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) while Dynn Leaupepe scored 12.

A jumper by McGwire started the second half in the Broncos favor but Cal Poly followed with a 9-0 run over four minutes to get within one at 37-36. Over the next three minutes Santa Clara answered with an 8-0 run of its own and ended the third quarter up 50-40.

With the Broncos on top by two halfway through the first quarter, Santa Clara went on a 10-0 run over three minutes to make the score 18-6. McGwire scored five points and Dru Toleafoa drilled a three to cap the run.

The Broncos got the lead up to 35-22 with two minutes to go in the second quarter but the Mustangs scored the final five points of the half to make it a 35-27 game at intermission.

Toleafoa drained a three at the eight-minute mark in the fourth to put Santa Clara up 55-43. Cal Poly refused to fold and scored the next six points behind two jumpers from Gilbert.

A career-best third three of the day from McGwire with one minute left put the Broncos on tip 67-58. Lisa Marie Sanchez answered with a three on the other end but Parkinson hit two from the charity stripe to seal the game for Santa Clara.

Santa Clara returns to action Saturday at 3 p.m. vs. Evansville in the last game of the Cal Poly/ShareSLO Holiday Tournament.