LOS ANGELES – Needing a defensive stand in the final seconds, Santa Clara women's basketball escaped L.A. with a 57-56 win over Loyola Marymount on Saturday afternoon. The Broncos had to hold off a furious run from the Lions in the fourth quarter to come away victorious.

Over nearly five minutes in the fourth quarter LMU outscored Santa Clara 13-2 to get within 52-51. Cheyanne Wallace and Bianca Velasco hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap the run.

Santa Clara got the ball with 35 seconds to go but a missed jumper that gave the Lions a chance for the win with 10 seconds on the clock.

Deanna Johnson missed a jumper with six seconds on the clock but the ball went out off of Santa Clara to give LMU one more chance.

Velasco took the inbounds pass and after dribbling around fell down. Her pass went straight into the arms of Marie Bertholdt who was able to run out the clock.

Santa Clara (14-5, 5-3 WCC) dominated down low. The Broncos outrebounded the Lions 50-34 and held a 32-12 advantage in points in the paint.

Bertholdt led all scorers with 17 points on 6 of 13 shooting and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Lori Parkinson scored 15 with seven rebounds and Taylor Berry grabbed 10 boards.

LMU (7-11, 3-4 WCC) hit 10 3-pointers as a team but shot just 32 percent from the field. The Lions also struggled from the free throw line, shooting just 8 of 18.

Leslie Lopez-Wood scored 16 points on four 3-pointers and had four assists. Velasco scored 10 with Wallace leading the team with six rebounds.

For the second game in a row the Broncos were seemingly in control of the game in the second half.

After the Lions scored nine consecutive points over three minutes to end the first quarter and start the second, Santa Clara got on a roll with a 12-0 run spanning four minutes to take a 29-24 lead with 8:48 to go in the third quarter. Bertholdt scored eight of the Broncos' points to lead the way.

Late in third Santa Clara rattled off a 7-0 run to build a game-high lead of 48-36 before the fourth quarter trouble began.

Santa Clara returns to action Saturday at 2 p.m. vs. San Francisco.