SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Tipping off the 2016-17 season, Santa Clara women's basketball beat Idaho State 82-78 Friday afternoon in Leavey. The Broncos mounted a huge comeback after being down as many as 17 in the fourth quarter to give first-year head coach Bill Carr his first win.
With the Broncos down 69-52 and eight minutes remaining, Santa Clara kicked things into gear and started its comeback with a 7-0 run. Lori Parkinson capped the outburst with a layup at the 6:09 mark.
After a pair of free throws from Estefania Ors, the Broncos scored the next 18 to take a 77-71 lead. It was their first lead since the game was 4-2 with 8:40 to go in the first quarter. Santa Clara ended the game on a 20-4 run.
"We showed some grit and character there late and I'm proud of the girls," Carr said. "If we played like that the first three quarters then we wouldn't need to make a comeback like that. We started guarding late and that was the difference. We stymied them there at the end and had some energy."
There were a whopping 62 fouls called in the game with a combined 67 free throws attempted. The Broncos were 38 of 48 from the charity stripe while the Bengals were 16 of 19. Idaho State made up the difference by going 10 of 22 from 3-point land while Santa Clara was 2 of 7.
Marie Bertholdt, the Broncos' leading rebounder and second leading scorer from a year ago, fouled out with 50 seconds to go in the third quarter. She was leading the team with 12 points.
Emily Wolph helped make-up for the loss of Bertholdt with a big final quarter. She led Santa Clara with 20 points on 5 of 9 shooting and was 9 of 10 from the free throw line, including the one to ice the game.
"Emily did a good job late," Carr said. She really ran the team well and got the ball to the right spots."
VIDEO | @SantaClaraWBB's Lori Parkinson/Emily Wolph, plus highlights from Friday's victory! #StampedeTogether https://t.co/TwKehhSXHE pic.twitter.com/zoULIzcQNA
— Santa Clara Broncos (@SCUBroncos) November 12, 2016
Lori Parkinson added a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds while collecting four steals, three assists, and a pair of blocks. Morgan McGwire added 14 points and eight boards.
Ors led all scorers with 23 points and was 3 of 5 from beyond the arc and 8 of 10 from the field.
Isabel Vara De Rey scored 17 while Grace Kenyon (11) and Saylair Grandon (10) rounded out the Bengals that scored in double-figures.
"Idaho State did a great job of controlling tempo and putting us in tough spots defensively," Carr said. "I told the staff before the half that if they got another 41 points we weren't going to be able to win."
A crucial stretch of the game came over the final seven and a half minutes of the third quarter. The Broncos went the whole stretch without making a field goal. Idaho State, however, only made up one point in that stretch because Santa Clara was able to knock down 11 free throws.
"I'm just proud of the team," Carr said. "They didn't stop playing when they were down in the fourth quarter. They kept coming back. That's something we can build on."
Santa Clara is back in action at Cal Monday at 7 p.m.
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