Dec. 30, 2005

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Riding high on a three-game winning streak and averaging 82.0 points a game, the explosive Santa Clara women's basketball team will look to end the 2005 calendar year with another victory as they host the Ball State Cardinals in a New Year's Eve contest Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Santa Clara (5-6) began its current streak with an 85-54 win at Eastern Washington on Dec. 15 and continued the winning ways with wins over San Jose State on the 17th and a 96-77 win over CS Northridge Wednesday afternoon.

Michelle Cozad fuels the Bronco offense, having posted four-straight double-doubles and leading the WCC with 19.0 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Chandice Cronk added 17 points in Wednesday's win over the Matadors and is averaging 10.6 points per game from the outside.

The inside presence of Ashley Gonnerman and Kasey Monteith has also been a major factor in SCU's fortunes. Both players are among the WCC's top shooters, with Monteith's 55.9% rate from the field good for second in the conference and Gonnerman's 53.9% following right behind.

The Cardinals (7-3) are coming off of a 63-52 win of their own, this one coming Thursday night at Saint Mary's. After starting off their season with five wins in a row, the Cardinals have dropped three of their past five, including a 110-24 loss to second-ranked Duke on Dec. 19.

Ball State is led offensively by the 11.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game of Julie DeMuth in addition to the 7.5 points and 4.2 assists per game of Kelsey Corbin. Tina Bolte (11.2 ppg) and Krista Stewart (10.5 ppg) also provide additional offense for the Cardinals.

Saturday night's match is set for a 7 p.m. tip-off and tickets are available by calling (408) 554-4660.