SANTA CLARA, Calif. – A buzzer beater for Kate Andersen gave Portland an 80-77 victory over Santa Clara women's basketball in Leavey Center on Saturday afternoon.
On the final possession of the game, the Pilots (11-7, 4-3 WCC) passed the ball around the outside with Haylee Andrews making the extra pass to Andersen in the corner who knocked down the triple as the clock expired.
The assist was the 12th of the day for Andrews who had a double-double while also scoring 15 points. Andersen scored 20 on 8-for-12 shooting from the field.
The winner was only possible because of a monster game from Alex Fowler who scored a career high 35 on 16-for-22 shooting from the field while adding seven rebounds. As a team, the Pilots shot 57.1-percent from the field and 40.0-percent from downtown.
On the pervious possession with the Broncos (8-10, 2-5 WCC) down two, Ashlyn Herlihy evened the score at 77-all on a jumper from the free throw line.
Herlihy finished with a team high 20 on 7-for-14 shooting and added eight rebounds to go with four assists. Santa Clara ended up shooting 37.8-percent from the floor and 27.8-percent from beyond the arc.
Three turnovers by Portland led to a 7-0 Santa Clara run over a minute and a half late in the fourth quarter to get the Broncos back on top. Tia Hay's 3-pointer started the run that made it 73-71 Santa Clara.
Hay ended up with nine points and five assists in her return to action after missing the previous four games with a foot injury. Emily Wolph scored 12 while dishing out four assists in her first start of the year and Tamia Braggs scored 10.
After being tied at the break, Portland followed a quick Santa Clara bucket with a 7-0 run before seven points from Fowler. Her first 3-pointer of the day at 7:48 gave the Pilots a 44-39 lead. Santa Clara, however, responded with a 9-0 run of its own featuring four points from Herlihy and a 3-pointer from Wolph to get back on top 48-44.
With Santa Clara up a game high four, Fowler went on a 6-0 run by herself to get the Pilots up 30-28 with 3:48 to go in the second quarter.
After Herlihy and Lindsey VanAllen hit back-to-back triples to give their team its first lead, Fowler came back with back-to-back layups. The Broncos responded with the next six, with Merle Wiehl's bucket putting them up 16-13 at the 3:08 mark of the first quarter.
NOTES
- Santa Clara is now 46-31 all-time against Portland.
- Tamia Braggs was in the starting lineup for the eighth game in a row, the first starts of her career. Emily Wolph also made her first start of the season.
- The Broncos had an 18-2 edge in offensive rebounds and a 17-4 advantage in second chance points.
- Santa Clara's bench outscored Portland's 24-4.
- The largest lead of the game be either team was five for Portland.
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