SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Returning home for the first time in a month, Santa Clara women's basketball blew past UC Santa Cruz 85-39 Sunday afternoon.

The game was never close with Santa Clara (4-3) scoring the first six points of the game, started by a 3-pointer from Marie Bertholdt on the opening possession, and not allowing a UC Santa Cruz (3-5) a field goal until the 3:54 mark in the first quarter. The Banana Slugs were 0 for 8 from the floor until Michelle Poole knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 14-6.

"Whenever we've gotten off to a good start this season, we've had someone step-up and make a big 3-pointer or make a big defensive stop," Santa Clara head coach Bill Carr said. "The nice thing for us is that it doesn't have to be the same person. We have a pretty balanced scoring attack."

Four Broncos scored in double-figures with Bertholdt's season-high 18 leading the way. Bertholdt also added a career-high five blocks and chipped in five rebounds.

Lori Parkinson had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Morgan McGwire scored 10 points with five rebounds in just 13 minutes of action.

Naomi Jimenez scored a career-high 14 points and hit three 3-pointers as well. Fellow freshman Tamia Braggs set career-highs with eight points on 4 of 9 shooting and eight rebounds.

"Both freshmen did a really nice job today," Carr said. "Freshmen will come along during the season and both have been doing well in practice. I thought Tamia did well on the block. She took her time and Naomi made some big shots."

VIDEO | Highlights from @SantaClaraWBB's 85-39 victory over UC Santa Cruz on Sunday afternoon! #StampedeTogether https://t.co/QYntetRXpu pic.twitter.com/lWxssueUC4

— Santa Clara Broncos (@SCUBroncos) December 12, 2016

Santa Clara used its size advantage for a 52-32 advantage on the glass and outscored UC Santa Cruz 22-10 in points off turnovers by forcing 20.

The Broncos also shot a season-best 50.0 percent from the field and were 7 of 17 from beyond the arc and had 26 assists on 34 made field goals. The Banana Slugs managed to shoot just 22.0 percent from the floor and were 4 of 29 on 3-pointers.

Poole led UC Santa Cruz with nine points and pulled down 10 rebounds. No other Banana Slug scored more than six or had more than four boards.

"Today was about getting the rust off and competing again," Carr said. "The theme was executing. We wanted to do what we do and try to get better. It was good to go against a disciplined group like Santa Cruz. This was a good test for us heading into a stretch of four games in five days.

The Broncos return to the floor Saturday at 1 p.m. vs. Northwestern in the final nonconference home game of the season before playing three games in three days at the Play 4 Kay Shootout in Las Vegas Dec. 19-21.

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