MORAGA, Calif. – Despite a strong fourth quarter, Santa Clara women's basketball comeback attempt came up short at Saint Mary's and the Broncos fell to the Gaels 81-68 Thursday night on the road.
Saint Mary's (17-8, 10-4 WCC) started the game red-hot from beyond the arc, connecting on eight of its first 11 tries, including a perfect 5-for-5 from Sam Simons who scored a game-high 28 points.
The Gaels cooled down but still shot 52.5-percent from the field and 42.3-percent from beyond the arc on the night.
Megan McKay contributed 18 points and eight rebounds while Sydney Raggio grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds with eight points and Jasmine Forcadilla had 10 assists to go with five points.
Despite the Gaels holding an 18-point lead after three quarters, Santa Clara (10-14, 3-10 WCC) scored the first 12 points of the fourth quarter to make it a 70-64 game. Emily Wolph and Lindsey VanAllen both knocked down triples during the run. It was the closest Santa Clara had been since the score was 8-2 with 7:51 left in the first quarter.
VanAllen and Herlihy led a balanced offensive attack with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Charise Holloway scored nine with Tia Hay, Lauren Yearwood, and Wolph all scoring eight. Joeseta Fatuesi chipped in seven with Herlihy missing her third-straight double-double by one rebound.
The Broncos finished the night shooting 42.2-percent from the floor and knocked down 10 3-pointers, the fourth time this season they've made at least that many. They also shared the ball with 19 assists on 27 made baskets.
The lead got up to double-figures for the first time after an 8-0 run over two minutes midway through first and a 3-pointer from Simons with 4:10 left in the period made it double-digits until the Broncos run to start the fourth quarter.
NOTES
- Santa Clara is now 35-42 all-time against Saint Mary's.
- With three blocks, Lauren Yearwood now has 62 on the year, good for third on the Santa Clara single-season list. She also moved into the top-10 on the career list at No. 9.
- The Broncos used the same starting lineup (Hay, Wolph, Jimenez, Herlihy, Yearwood) for the sixth consecutive game.
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