FULLERTON, Calif. – Despite starting the game ice cold from the field, Santa Clara women's basketball battled back to pick up a 64-60 overtime win at Cal State Fullerton Monday night.
With the game even at 60-all, Lauren Yearwood missed a jump shot that would have given the Broncos (4-1) the lead but Naomi Jimenez was there to grab the offensive board and made a tough shot to put them up 62-60 with just 12 seconds on the clock.
After a missed jumper by Hannah Thompson on the other end, Tia Hay pulled in the rebound and made two free throws to ice the game.
"I thought tonight showed some good growth on our part," Santa Clara head coach Bill Carr said. "We started off poorly but Fullerton was playing really well with a lot of energy and it took us 10 minutes to get going. We were able to right the ship and get up at halftime before gutting one out."
Hay finished with a game-high 20 points, her third outing this season of 20 or more points, on 7-for-13 shooting from the field. Jimenez added six points with five rebounds and four assists and Yearwood scored nine with six rebounds.
With just 19 seconds on the clock and a one-point lead, Hannah Thompson missed a pair of free throws that allowed the Broncos to come down and take a 55-54 lead on a jumper by Ashlyn Herlihy, who finished with a team-high 12 boards and added eight points.
Daeja Smith had a chance to put the Titans (2-3) up on the next possession, but she made just one of two from the charity stripe, to even the score at 55 and send the game into overtime.
Hannah Thompson was a thorn in Santa Clara's side all night, scoring 18 on 6-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc. Amiee Book added 17 and Smith scored nine with a game-high 13 rebounds.
A layup by Smith gave Fullerton a 42-34 lead with 40 seconds left in the third but the Broncos responded with the next 11 points, capped by a 3-pointer from Hay with 6:47 to go in the fourth.
After a brutal first quarter that saw them go just 1-for-10 from the field and trail 11-2, Santa Clara turned it on in the second quarter, outscoring Fullerton 20-10, including a 7-0 run to end the half that was capped with a 3-pointer from Tia Hay to give the Broncos their first lead of the night at 22-21.
NOTES
- Santa Clara is now 4-6 all-time against Cal State Fullerton.
- Despite the cold start from the field, Santa Clara finished the game by making 24 of its final 50 shots.
- The Broncos forced 26 turnovers and had 11 steals.
- Santa Clara used the same starting lineup (Wolph, Hay, Jimenez, Herlihy, Yearwood) for the fifth straight game.
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The Broncos return to Leavey Center and host Missouri State Saturday at 2 p.m.
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