SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara women's basketball lost a close game 58-54 to San Francisco Thursday night in Leavey Center.
Morgan McGwire registered her second double-double (15 points/11 rebounds) of the season for the Broncos (5-13, 1-6 WCC) but Michaela Rakova scored a game-high 25 on 10-for-12 shooting from the floor to lead the Dons (9-9, 4-3 WCC) to victory.
With Santa Clara down 56-54 and 11 seconds left in the fourth, the Broncos got the ball down low but couldn't convert on a pair of opportunities and San Francisco took over on the rebound. Rakova iced the game with a pair of free throws on the other end.
Santa Clara started the fourth on top but five but the Dons scored five in a row behind a 3-pointer from Shannon Powell and a layup by Veronica Preciado off a steal to tie the score at 42-all.
San Francisco also got contributions form Kalyn Simon who scored nine with six rebounds while Anna Seilund added eight points and seven assists.
Santa Clara closed the second quarter on a 12-2 run to take a 30-28 lead, their first of the half, into the break. Kyla Martin made a couple of tough layups on drives through the lane and Dru Toleafoa drilled a triple. Ashlyn Herlihy scored the final five points, including a 3-pointer with 11 seconds on the clock.
Herlihy scored nine and was perfect in six attempts from the charity stripe with Martin scoring seven and adding six assists. Charise Holloway tied a season-high with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers while adding four assists.
Four points from Rakova midway through the second put San Francisco on a 6-0 run that got the Santa Clara deficit up to 26-18 with 4:15 to go in the half but the Broncos responded with five in a row.
The Dons got off to a fast start and scored seven in a row over two minutes early in the first quarter to take a 9-2 lead. Rakova had a pair of easy layups and Simon drilled a 3-pointer during the run.
NOTES
- Santa Clara is now 61-38 all-time against San Francisco.
- Taylor Berry made her 92nd consecutive start.
- With her block at 3:59 in the first quarter, Morgan McGwire moved into second place all-time at Santa Clara with 114 blocks and finished the game with 117. She passed Lindsay Leo (2010-13, 113) and trails only Annie Garrison (1997-2001, 207).
- Ashlyn Herlihy returned to action after missing the last three games with an injury.
- McGwire had her fifth double-figure rebounding game.
- The first foul of the fourth quarter didn't come until the 3:13 mark.
HIGHLIGHTS
HIGHLIGHTS | Bay Area rivalry with an outstanding home crowd in Leavey. Here are some of the best plays from the #SCUBroncos tonight against San Francisco! FULL HIGHLIGHTS ▶️ https://t.co/iMckqRWz2t #StampedeTogether #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/MvHtdxdxFo
— Santa Clara WBB (@Santaclarawbb) January 19, 2018
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