WCC Basketball Tournament Central | Gonzaga Game Notes
WATCH | "Bronco Bites" with Brooke Gallaway, Marie Bertholdt
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – With the regular season in the rearview mirror, Santa Clara women's basketball, seeded No. 4, faces fifth-seeded Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference tournament on Thursday at 8 p.m. in Las Vegas at the Orleans Arena.
The Broncos beat Pacific 66-60 in the regular season finale for their 22nd win and 13th conference win.
It is their most wins since also winning 22 in 1998-99. That season they advanced to the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The 13 conference wins ties the most in program history. The only other time the Broncos won 13 WCC games was in 1990-91 when they won the conference.
The Broncos also had four players honored by the WCC for their work on the court.
No. 4 SANTA CLARA (22-6, 13-4 WCC) vs. No. 5 Gonzaga (18-12, 10-8 WCC)
Thursday, March 3, 2016 • Orleans Arena (9,500) • 8 p.m. PST
TV: BYUtv
Live Stream: TheW.tv
Live Stats: www.statbroadcast.com
Tickets: Click here to purchase tickets.
Santa Clara is outscoring opponents 66.1-57.4 and outrebounding teams 40.8-33.0. The Broncos are tops in the WCC in scoring defense and 26th in the nation in rebound margin. The team is also 20th nationally in offensive rebounds per game.
They are third in the country in steals (379) and steals per game (13.1) and place seventh in turnovers forced per game (22.1).
The Broncos are also eighth in the country in free throws made with 449 and ninth in attempts with 648.
Lori Parkinson leads Santa Clara in scoring with 11.0 ppg and is second with 6.4 rpg. She is sixth in the conference with 2.2 spg and fourth with 1.0 bpg.
Marie Bertholdt is second on the team with 10.8 ppg and leads the Broncos with 6.5 rpg. She is also tops on the roster with 115 free throws made and 145 attempted.
Savanna Hanson leads Santa Clara with 2.7 apg and 24 3-pointers made. She is scoring 8.0 ppg and is fourth in the WCC with 2.3 spg.
Taylor Berry is third in the conference with 2.4 spg while adding 7.6 ppg and 4.1 rpg.
Santa Clara is 28-33 all-time vs. Gonzaga with the first meeting coming in 1987-88. The Broncos won the last matchup on Jan. 29 for their first win over the Zags since 2006.
Gonzaga is outscoring opponents 65.1-57.6 and outrebounding teams 40.4-32.4. The Bulldogs are shooting 40.4 percent from the floor and 31.8 percent from beyond the arc.
Jill Barta leads the team in scoring with 13.9 ppg and is tops with 39 steals. She has hit 33 3-pointers while adding 5.4 rpg.
Shelby Cheslek is third in the WCC with 8.6 rpg and is scoring 9.6 ppg. She leads Gonzaga with a 47.9 percent mark shooting and is second in the conference with 1.9 bpg.
Georgia Stirton leads the Bulldogs with 2.7 apg and is scoring 6.4 ppg as well.
WCC Tournament Schedule
Thursday, March 3
No. 8 Pacific vs. No. 9 Pepperdine, Noon p.m. (BYUtv, TheW.tv)
No. 7 Loyola Marymount vs. No. 10 Portland, 2 p.m. (BYUtv, TheW.tv)
No. 3 San Diego vs. No. 6 San Francisco, 6 p.m. (BYUtv, TheW.tv)
No. 4 Santa Clara vs. No. 5 Gonzaga, 8 p.m. (BYUtv, TheW.tv)
Friday, March 4
No. 1 BYU vs. No. 8/9, Noon (BYUtv, TheW.tv)
No. 2 Saint Mary's vs. No. 7/10, 2 p.m. (BYUtv, TheW.tv)
Monday, March 7
Semifinal No. 1, Noon (BYUtv, TheW.tv)
Semifinal No. 2, 2 p.m. (BYUtv, TheW.tv)
Tuesday, March 8
Championship Game, 1 p.m. (ESPNU, WatchESPN)
All times Pacific
