Nov. 24, 2001
SEATTLE, Wash. - The Santa Clara University women's basketball team is making a strong bid for a national ranking after knocking off its second top-25 opponent of the season tonight with a 71-56 win over No. 25 Washington in the championship game of the Seattle Times Husky Classic.
Junior Tammy Annas led Santa Clara (3-1) with a game-high 21 points, while freshman Quinn Thomas scored 13 and Kendra Rhea grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. Annas, the tournament MVP, shot 7-for-10 and finished with nine rebounds. In the tournament, Annas had 26 points, 18 rebounds and four assists.
Washington (2-2) was led by Emily Autrey's 18 points, while Andrea Lalum scored 13 and grabbed nine boards. The Huskies' leading scorer, Giuliana Mendiola, was held to only five points on 2-of-12 shooting.
Santa Clara recorded a strong shooting performance from the outside, making six of 10 three-point attempts in the first half en route to a 10-for-18 outing from behind the three-point arc. The 10 treys in the game marked the second-highest total in school history.
After a relatively low-scoring opening to the game, Washington went on a 10-1 run to lead by a game-high six points at the 14:22 mark of the first half. The Broncos made five of their first six attempts from 3-point range while charging to a 22-17 lead and outscoring the Huskies 23-9 the rest of the half to go into the locker room with a 29-21 advantage.
The lead stretched to as many as 12 points in the second half when Annas nailed a three-pointer from the left baseline to give the Broncos a 50-38 lead with 12:33 left in the game. Washington then went on an 11-2 run to close within three points before Bronco head coach Chris Denker called a timeout with 8:22 left on the clock.
Following the timeout, the Broncos scored nine-straight points, which provided a comfortable lead to wind down the clock. The 15-point final margin of victory was Santa Clara's largest lead in the game.
Santa Clara returns home Tuesday to face rival San Jose State in the annual "Clash of the County" at the Leavey Center. The game is the first half of a twinbill with the men's team that begins at 6 p.m. For tickets, contact the athletic ticket office at 408/554-4660 or click on the tickets link on the left side of this page.