SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Taylor Berry had a career-high 20 points and Morgan McGwire added her third double-double of the year (12 points/11 rebounds) to lead Santa Clara women's basketball past San Diego 59-50 Thursday night in Leavey Center.
The Broncos (6-14, 2-7 WCC) snapped their four-game losing streak by shooting 45.8-percent from the field, including 63.2-perecnt in the first half, while holding the Toreros (12-8, 5-4 WCC) to just 38.5-percent for the game.
"We had good rhythm and executed pretty well," Santa Clara head coach Bill Carr said. "We got the ball around the rim and made some shots. It was nice to see and I'm proud of the team for the work they've put in."
Five-straight for San Diego, all from Maya Hood who ended with a team-high 12, in the fourth cut the Santa Clara lead to 53-50 with 2:12 remaining but the Broncos held the Toreros scoreless the rest of the way and finished the game on a 6-0 run. Both Kyla Martin and Ashlyn Herlihy hit a pair of free throws during the stretch to ice the game.
Herlihy finished with 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting and was 2-for-2 from deep with Martin dishing out seven assists.
"All three seniors did a really good job," Carr said. "Kyla's got a lot of pressure on her out there and she still had seven assists. Berry and Morgan both played really good senior games today at home and that's a reason we were able to come out on top."
Santa Clara built its biggest lead of the night with an 8-0 run in the third quarter. A pair from the charity stripe for McGwire capped the three-minute run and gave the Broncos a 43-32 lead with 2:26 left in the period.
A 3-pointer by Herlihy with 21 seconds left in the opening half after four-straight from Berry put Santa Clara up eight before Sydney Williams knocked down a jumper to send the teams to the break with the Broncos up 30-24.
Both Williams and Aubrey Ward-El finished with 10 points for San Diego.
A layup from Herlihy with 5:11 to go in the first put Santa Clara on top 8-7. The Broncos would lead the rest of the way.
NOTES
- Santa Clara is now 34-39 all-time against San Diego.
- Taylor Berry made her 94th consecutive start.
- Santa Clara forced 14 turnovers and had 10 steals.
- The Broncos had their best game from the field since shooting 54.2-percent against Menlo on Dec. 10.
- Santa Clara had a 34-20 advantage in the paint and won the rebounding battle 31-27.
- The Broncos bench outscored the Toreros bench 19-7.
HIGHLIGHTS
HIGHLIGHTS | Taylor Berry stole the show on the court, so she's stealing the show here as well! Full highlights from tonight's victory over San Diego ▶️ https://t.co/bwgnKAGarM #StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/AQiQfJF8Yj
— Santa Clara WBB (@Santaclarawbb) January 26, 2018
INTERVIEWS
VIDEO | Hear Taylor Berry and Morgan McGwire talk about #SCUBroncos 59-50 victory over @USDwbb Thursday night in Leavey Center. Berry scored a career-high 20 points and McGwire had a double-double (12 points/11 rebounds). #StampedeTogether pic.twitter.com/coUgjnXmoa
— Santa Clara WBB (@Santaclarawbb) January 26, 2018
QUOTABLE
"We had really good home court energy to start the game and then we were able to sustain it when they took shots at us. That's a sign of growth and that we're going in the right direction."
Head coach Bill Carr
UP NEXT
The Broncos end their quick homestand Saturday at 2 p.m. against Pepperdine.
Connect with the Broncos on Social Media
Athletics: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Snapchat
Women's Basketball: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
