LAS VEGAS – The season came to an end for eighth-seeded Santa Clara women's basketball in the second round of the West Coast Conference Tournament with a 67-49 defeat to fifth-seeded Pacific Friday afternoon.
A fast start for the Tigers (17-13) gave them an early lead they wouldn't surrender. Each time the Broncos (12-19) looked like they were about to make a run, Pacific responded and never saw its lead dip below seven points for the final 37 minutes of the game.
Santa Clara was hurt by cold shooting, finishing at just 29.4-percent from the field. The Broncos also struggled from beyond the arc, going just 6 of 22.
"Hats off to Pacific, they came out and jumped us early," Santa Clara head coach Bill Carr said. "We couldn't recover as well as we would have liked but we kept fighting, which was nice. We had some opportunities to cut the score and give us a chance with some good looks, but the ball just didn't go in the basket."
Some easy buckets helped Pacific to the game-changing run early in the first. The Tigers outscored Santa Clara 13-1 and got up by 12. The Broncos were able to cut into the lead later in the period, but Pacific scored the final six of the quarter and held a 25-12 lead after 10 minutes.
Valerie Higgins led all players with 14 points and added 11 rebounds for the double-double. Brooklyn McDavid and Kaylin Randhawa both scored 12 with McDavid adding eight boards and Sofie Tryggedsson scored 11 with seven boards and four assists.
Santa Clara got the deficit under double figures for the first time since the 4:23 mark of the second quarter when Ashly Maldonado knocked down her second 3-pointer of the day and Merle Wiehl followed with a layup to make the score 53-45 at 9:13 in the fourth.
Pacific remained undeterred and followed with a 6-0 run over two-plus minutes, capped by Callie Kaiser's 3-pointer that made it 59-45 with 6:23 on the clock.
Wiehl scored 10 on 4 of 6 shooting and Ashlyn Herlihy led the team with 11 points and was 6 of 6 from the free throw line. Lindsey VanAllen added nine points.
Wiehl's 3-pointer at the 8:10 mark of the second quarter cut the Broncos deficit to single digits at 27-19 and closed a 7-0 run over 1:16.
No points were scored for nearly four minutes after the run, but the Tigers got going again with a 6-0 run that stretched their lead back to 33-19. Santa Clara missed nine straight shots from the field and a pair of free throws during the run while going six minutes without scoring.
NOTES
- Santa Clara is now 30-25 all-time against Pacific.
- With one block, Lauren Yearwood finisher her Santa Clara career with 119 putting her at third all-time.
Connect with the Broncos on Social Media
Athletics: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Snapchat
Women's Basketball: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
