SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's basketball opens its season with the first of two exhibition games Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Notre Dame de Namur. It will be the first action under new head coach Bill Carr and his staff.

The Broncos return most of the key pieces from a team that won 23 games a year ago and went to the WNIT for their first postseason appearance in 10 years. The 23 wins were the most since 1997-98 when they won the same number and made the NCAA Tournament.

Santa Clara also tied for third in the West Coast Conference and advanced to the semifinals of the WCC Tournament for the first time since 2010. The 13 wins tied for the most in program history with the 1990-91 season when the Broncos won the league.

THE BRONCOS
Santa Clara has five new faces in freshmen Carleigh Patrick, Ruobing Bai, Naomi Jimenez, Ashlyn Herlihy, and Tamia Braggs. They will also have redshirt freshman Nicole Vander Helm who missed last year due to injury.

Marie Bertholdt and Lori Parkinson look to provide a veteran presence with so many new players. Both players were 2016 First Team All-WCC selections and named Preseason All-WCC on Monday.

Parkinson led Santa Clara in scoring with 11.6 ppg and was second with 6.5 rpg. She also led the team with 31 blocks and finished second with 70 steals.

Bertholdt led the Broncos in rebounding with 6.7 per game and was second with 11.3 ppg. She shot a team-best 78.8 percent from the free throw line while leading the team in makes (130) and attempts (165).

The Broncos also welcome back Morgan McGwire who averaged 10.1 ppg and 5.5 rpg and Taylor Berry who was fourth in the WCC a year ago with 2.3 steals per game.

Santa Clara finished last season No. 2 in the nation with 12.6 spg and No. 4 with 403 total steals. They were also No. 6 nationally with 21.7 turnovers forced per game.

THE ARGONAUTS
Notre Dame de Namur finished last season 3-25 and ended the year on a nine-game losing streak. Two of the Argonauts three wins came against Concordia in league play.

The Argonauts got outscored last season by an average of 69.4-55.3. The team shot 35.8 percent from the field and 28.2 percent from beyond the arc a year ago. They were outrebounded 40.0-38.1 and committed 19.7 turnovers while forcing 13.9 per game.

Jerusha Paine led the team in scoring with 13.5 ppg on 52.1 percent shooting from the field. She is the top returning rebounds, averaging 7.2 a game. Marinel Alcantara scored 7.5 ppg last season and finished second on the team with 32 3-pointers made. She also finished second on Notre Dame de Namur with 31 total steals.

Tickets: Season or single-game tickets are available. Click here to purchase online or contact the ticket office weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. at (408) 554-4660 or BroncoTickets@scu.edu. Group discounts are also available through our ticket office sales and service consultants. Doors to Leavey Center, as well as its ticket office, are open one hour prior to the start of the game.

Parking: For weekday games, the Leavey Center lot, located on Accolti Way off El Camino Real, is free beginning one hour prior to tipoff. Any other parking facility on campus will be subject to normal daily rates or restrictions, including the main structure, located on Palm Drive. During the weekend, campus parking facilities are free (except for permit required locations). Click here for a campus map and parking restrictions.

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