San Francisco Outlasts Women's Basketball Saturday Afternoon

San Francisco Outlasts Women's Basketball Saturday Afternoon

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – A career-day from Lucija Kostic led San Francisco to a 57-49 win over Santa Clara women's basketball in Leavey Center Saturday afternoon.

Kostic scored a career-high 22 on 11-for-14 shooting from the field while also grabbing a career-best 12 rebounds for her first double-double.

The Dons (6-15, 2-8 WCC) never trailed after scoring the first basket of the game 48 seconds in, with the Broncos (10-11, 3-7 WCC) getting as close as one late in the third.

San Francisco scored the final six points of the third quarter and first two of the fourth for an 8-0 run that stretched the lead out to 42-33. Shannon Alexander scored four of the points with Shannon Powell and Kostic each adding two.

Alexander and Powell both scored 11 on the day.

After a miserable first half where they shot just 25.9-percent from the floor, the Broncos picked it up a bit in the second half, but managed to shoot just 32.1-percent for the day.

Despite the cold shooting, Santa Clara was within striking distance for all 40 minutes and with 3:53 left in the game, Tia Hay made a layup to get the Broncos within 48-44 before San Francisco pulled away for good.

"We defended pretty well, especially in the second quarter, but we had a hard time putting the ball in the basket," Santa Clara head coach Bill Carr said. "Credit San Francisco's defense but we have to make shots."

Hay led the team with 11 points and added six assists while Ashlyn Herlihy scored 10 with nine rebounds. Both Hay and Herlihy scored nine points in the second half.

With her team having not scored for the first four and a half minutes of the second quarter, Joeseta Fatuesi knocked down a 3-pointer that was followed by a jumper from Lauren Yearwood that made it a 19-17 game.

Fatuesi finished with five points and Yearwood scored four with five rebounds and five blocks.

HIGHLIGHTS

NOTES

  • Santa Clara is now 62-40 all-time against San Francisco.
  • With five blocks, Lauren Yearwood now has 54 on the year, good for fifth on the Santa Clara single-season list.
  • The Broncos used the same starting lineup (Hay, Wolph, Jimenez, Herlihy, Yearwood) for the third consecutive game.
  • The Santa Clara bench outscored the San Francisco bench 20-9.

UP NEXT
The Broncos host LMU Thursday at 7 p.m. in the second game of their three-game homestand.

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