WATCH | Highlights and postgame interviews with Payne, Parkinson
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's basketball kept its hot streak going by beating Texas Tech, 75-70, on Saturday afternoon in Leavey Center.
The Broncos, who led from start to finish, extended their longest winning streak in more than nine years to eight games, and for the first time in 15 years, the program has two victories over Power Five Conference teams in the same season. Santa Clara won nine straight games from Jan. 19-Feb. 17, 2006.
Lori Parkinson led all scorers with 20 points and grabbed five rebounds. Savanna Hanson scored 19 on 3 of 4 shooting from downtown and Morgan McGwire scored 16 with five boards. Devin Hudson led all players with 11 rebounds.
"We came out today and we were the aggressor," said Santa Clara head coach JR Payne. "I'm really excited that our team bought into that mentality because we could have been intimidated by their size and athletic ability. Texas Tech is a great team from a great conference and I'm just thrilled with the win."
Santa Clara (8-2) dominated on the glass with a 45-30 advantage in rebounds and held a 17-7 edge in second chance points.
"We did a great job on the glass," said Payne. "At times we have really long lineups. We're not the best team in the world but we're able to contest shots. If we contest their shots we'll have a good chance to rebound the ball."
Ivonne Cook Taylor led Texas Tech (6-2) with 15 points. Japreece Dean scored 11 and had seven assists while Brielle Blaire scored 10 with six boards.
Rayven Brooks hit back-to-back 3-pointers and the Lady Raiders started the third quarter on an 8-2 run to close the gap to 37-36. Parkinson made a tough layup out of a Santa Clara timeout and Hanson came right back with a 3-pointer with 8:00 left in the quarter.
The Broncos had an 8-0 run to get back on top by nine. During the stretch Texas Tech missed five straight field goal attempts. When Zuri Sanders grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in, the Lady Raiders trailed 45-36 with 5:57 left in the third.
Texas Tech kept trying to make a run, but didn't get closer than five until there was a little more than one minute to go in the game.
With 6:55 to go in the fourth, Ivonne Cook-Taylor nailed a three to get the Raiders within 57-52. Santa Clara came back and scored the next five to get the lead up to double-digits. The Broncos pushed the lead to 70-59 at 1:54 on a three from McGwire.
Parkinson grabbed a huge offensive rebound with 26.9 on the clock with the Broncos up five that forced the Lady Raiders to foul. Parkinson hit both free throws to make the score 72-65.
Texas Tech made the game interesting in the final minute but scoring five straight, including a three from Dean, to close the gap to74-70. Parkinson hit a clutch free throw with 3 seconds remaining to seal the game.
The Broncos have recorded a pair of wins in the same season against Power Five Conference teams for the first time since 2000-01 and second in the last 19 years. Last month, Santa Clara downed No. 13/10 Stanford, 61-58. The Broncos defeated Cal, 77-73, on Dec. 10, 2000 on the road, and 20 days later knocked off Texas Tech, 61-56, at home.
Santa Clara returns to action Friday at 6 p.m. vs. UC Santa Barbara.
