SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Behind its usual tough defense, Santa Clara women's basketball topped Pacific 57-55 Saturday afternoon at home.

The Broncos (9-18, 5-11 WCC) held the Tigers (13-13, 7-8 WCC), the conference's leading offense, to a season-low 55 points for the second time this season.

"That's a good team and a really good offensive team," Santa Clara head coach Bill Carr said. "They have good guards that put pressure on you offensively the whole time. I thought we got off balance a little bit but we made some plays late to give us a chance to win."

Trailing by four at the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter, Santa Clara went on a 7-0 run in 61 seconds with Taylor Berry scoring five of her 11 points, including a 3-pointer with 3:22 to go, to put the Broncos up 52-49.

After a layup from Brooklyn McDavid made it a one-point game, the Broncos knocked down three free throws to ice the game.

Charise Holloway scored a game-high-tying 17 while hitting a season-best seven field goals, including three 3-pointers.

"Charise played well in a lot of different areas," Carr said. "She does a lot of different things for us."

Kyla Martin also had a big day, scoring 14 points and committing just one turnover while playing all 40 minutes.

"I'm really proud of Kyla," Carr said. "We're asking her to run the team. Pacific does a good job of changing defenses and mixing it up on you and I thought she handled it great."

Pacific used seven in a row early in the fourth to take a 45-41 lead with 7:51 to go in the game. Desire Finnie scored four of her game-high-tying 17 during the run with Ameela Li capping the run with a triple.

GeAnna Luaulu-Summers, the fourth leading scoring in the WCC, scored 11 but was just 2-for-10 from the field and 1-for-6 from beyond the arc. Jenelle Grant had a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Santa Clara's defense dominated the third quarter, allowing just six points on a pair of 3-pointers and started the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 36-32 lead.

The Tigers had an 8-2 run midway through the second quarter that put them on top 26-23 and Luaulu-Summers added a 3-pointer at the 2:34 mark of the period to give Pacific its biggest lead of the game at 32-27.

NOTES

• Santa Clara is now 28-21 all-time against Pacific.
• Taylor Berry made her 101st consecutive start.
• There were 14 lead changes in the first half and 17 in the game.
• Santa Clara was 17-of-28 from inside the arc.
• The Broncos picked up 12 assists and six steals.
• Santa Clara held a 30-22 edige in points in the paint.

HIGHLIGHTS

HIGHLIGHTS | Charise Holloway and Taylor Berry hit clutch late shots in today's @WCCSports victory over Pacific! FULL HIGHLIGHTS ▶️ https://t.co/yM6zF6sBoY #StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/H6hjXC3VfC

— Santa Clara WBB (@Santaclarawbb) February 18, 2018

INTERVIEW

VIDEO | Watch Charise Holloway talk about her big game and the #SCUBroncos 57-55 win over @Pacific_Hoops on Saturday. #StampedeTogether pic.twitter.com/pFCNNeXmlA

— Santa Clara WBB (@Santaclarawbb) February 18, 2018

QUOTABLE
"We got two wins here at home this weekend. Hopefully we can come back to practice on Monday and build on the momentum and get better."

Head coach Bill Carr

UP NEXT
The Broncos head on the road for the last time during the regular season to play at Loyola Marymount Thursday at 7 p.m.

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