SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Santa Clara women's basketball topped San Francisco 59-57 on Thursday night in a tight game. It was the sixth consecutive victory for the Broncos and keeps them in the race atop the West Coast Conference standings.

Despite trailing for much the fourth quarter, Santa Clara (18-5, 9-3 WCC) came up big when it had to. Marie Bertholdt hit a pair of free throws and Lori Parkinson converted a fast break layup after making a steal to put the Broncos up 58-57 with 1:24 left on the clock.

Parkinson's only other bucket of the night was also a huge one. She converted a three-point play with 3:30 left in the fourth to get the Broncos within 55-54.

"That was a huge put back and a huge steal to go coast to coast," said Santa Clara head coach JR Payne of Parkinson's late game baskets. "Those were unbelievable plays. She only had two buckets but they were huge."

San Francisco (14-9, 5-7 WCC) had the lead thanks to a 17-2 run midway through the third quarter. They turned up the defensive pressure and forced five Santa Clara turnovers while hitting five straight field goals to take a 42-33 lead.

"[Associate head coach] Toriano [Towns] lit them up the team after that run," said Payne. "He's so fiery and the players responded beautifully. Everyone was aggressive and I'm really proud of how we acted after that."

One of the biggest buckets of the night was a 3-pointer by Kyla Martin with 3:08 to go in the third that swung momentum back to the Broncos.

"That was a huge 3-pointer for us," said Payne. "Kyla is one of our better shooters and she was ready. She didn't hesitate and at that juncture we needed a bucket."

Marie Bertholdt led Santa Clara with 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds while also blocking three shots. She was 12 of 14 from the charity stripe.

None were bigger than the two she hit before the game started. San Francisco was called for an administrative technical foul for a malfunctioning light on one of the baskets. Bertholdt hit both free throws before the tip.

"We've been in a lot of close games where Marie needed to step up," said Payne. "She's our best free throw shooter and she's very confident there. I would be devastated if I was USF and the game started that way and ended like it did. I'm grateful for Marie's good free throw shooting and for our defense at the end."

The Broncos were also able to hold Taylor Proctor to just nine points. Proctor is third in the WCC with 18.4 ppg and has been held to single-digits just twice in the last 29 games, both times by Santa Clara this season.

"Like I said after the first game, Proctor is one of the premier players in this conference," said Payne. "I respect the way she plays and the type of game she has. I have no doubt she'll be great next time around. We think we're a great defensive team and trust that our defense will come through for us."

Santa Clara returns to action Thursday at 7 p.m. at San Diego.

Notes: Santa Clara has now won the most conference games in a season (9) since winning 11 in 2005-06 when the team tied for first in the WCC.