Dec. 11, 2007
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara women's basketball travels to San Luis Obispo for its last road contest of 2007 as the Broncos take on the Mustangs of Cal Poly Wednesday night. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
SCU won its second straight game Saturday night as the Broncos defeated the Tigers of Pacific, 71-64, in Stockton, Calif. Leading the way for Santa Clara was redshirt junior Sara Majors, who led all players with 17 points. She also led the Broncos with 5 rebounds. Jen Gottschalk added 15 points for the Broncos, while Elizabeth Doran tallied 11 points and Chandice Cronk had 10 points.
Santa Clara improved to a 6-3 overall record over the weekend and is currently riding a two-game win streak. Senior Gottschalk remains first on the team in scoring, averaging 16.6 points per game, and rebounding posting 5.8 boards per game. Cronk is second on the squad in scoring with a 15.8 average, while Tracey Walker leads the Broncos in assists and steals. Junior Doran is first on the squad in blocks and field goal and free throw percentage.
The Mustangs enter the mid-week contest with a 3-6 overall record and a 2-3 mark at home. In its last outing Cal Poly fell 80-64 to Loyola Marymount. Lisa McBride posted a team-high 17 points, while Meagan Harrison and Toni Newman tied the team best seven rebounds.
On the season, Harrison leads the squad in scoring as she averages 15.7 points per game. Harrison also averages a team-best 6.2 rebounds per game. McBride is second on the team, tallying 12.4 points per game. She is second on the team in rebounds (5.8 rpg) and has compiled a .458 field goal percentage and a .781 free throw percentage.
Santa Clara owns a 9-3 all-time record over Cal Poly. Last season, the Broncos posted a 73-54 victory over the Mustangs on the Mission Campus. In that contest, Cronk led all players with 21 points.
The Broncos return to the Leavey Center for their first in a five game home stand on Friday, Dec. 21. Santa Clara will host San Jose State in the annual Rivalry Series match. Tip off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Santa Clara University and San Jose State University have teamed up with Second Harvest Food Bank to create the first ever Rivalry Series Food Drive. The holiday food drive runs from Dec. 8-Jan. 7 in conjunction with the home-and-home series between the universities' men's basketball teams.
Food collection bins and coin jars will be available at all Santa Clara men's and women's home basketball games from Wednesday, Dec. 8-Monday, Jan. 7 to collect donations. The Broncos play at San Jose State on Dec. 8 and then host the Spartans at the Leavey Center on Jan. 7. Fans donating at least six dollars or two (full serving) canned good items will be given a 2-for-1 coupon to purchase general admission tickets for the Jan. 7 game. For more information, click here.
Doran's junior campaign has been quite remarkable with the non-conference schedule narrowing down.
The Corvallis, Ore., native leads Santa Clara with an impressive .882 free throw percentage (15-for-17). Doran is also second on the team in three-point field goals made and 3FG percentage. She has made 20 treys and is even at .500 beyond the arc.
She is also leads the Broncos in blocked shots with a team-best total of 11 and is fourth in rebounding, averaging 3.6 per game.
Redshirt junior Majors earned a starting position right off the bat for the Broncos this season after only starting three of the 15 contests she played in last season. And since stepping onto the court on Nov. 9, she has been a consistent force for the Broncos.
The Aumsville, Ore., native owns a .395 field goal percentage and a .800 free throw percentage, the latter of which is good for second on the team. Major has also been a huge help for SCU off the boards pulling down 39 total rebounds, which is also good for second on the team. Majors is also second on the squad with 30 assists and fourth with 12 steals.
Majors had a career day against Pacific (Dec. 8), when she led all players with 17 points and registered personal-bests in points, field goals, three-point field goal attempts, free throws, free throw attempts and minutes played.
Santa Clara juniors Doran, Majors and Claire Goins have all reached 100 career points this season. Doran was first to reach the mark against Alaska-Anchorage on Nov. 21. Against Pacific this weekend, her two teammates joined her as Majors now has 115 points and Goins is even at 100 points. Head coach Michelle Bento-Jackson is 16 wins shy of reaching the 100 career victories mark. She currently owns an 84-76 total as a head coach.
In The WCC:
As of Dec. 10, Santa Clara is tied for third in the conference with Gonzaga. Both teams have a 6-3 record. As a team, the Broncos rank first in three-point field goal percentage and 3FG made. SCU is second in scoring defense and third in free throw percentage and field goal percentage. The Broncos are also fourth in assists per game.
Individually, six players are ranked in nine different statistical categories. This week, Cronk checks in at No. 2 in three-point field goals made and No. 6 in scoring. Senior Walker moves to third in assists per game and steals per game this week, while claiming the No. 7 spot in defensive rebounds.
Doran holds onto a No. 2 ranking in three-point field goal percentage and is third in 3FGs made. She also ranks seventh in blocked shots.
Gottschalk also holds onto her fourth place ranking in scoring. She moved up to No. 7 in field goal percentage, and is tied for fifth in steals. Gottschalk also claims the No. 5 spot in three-point field goal percentage.
Despite not seeing action this week, freshman Nicole Gall held onto her third place ranking in three-point field goal percentage.
In The Nation:
As a team, Santa Clara is ranked in all the statistical categories. SCU's highest rankings are:
Scoring Offense - No. 142
3FG per Game - No. 7
3FG PCT - No. 26
Free-Throw PCT - No. 51
Field-Goal PCT - No. 65
Won-Lost PCT - No. 89
Assists per game - No. 82
Individually, junior Doran jumped to a No. 8 ranking from last week's No. 18 spot in three-point field goal percentage, while senior Walkers follows her at No. 31 in assists per game. Walker is also ranked 60th overall in steals per game and Doran is 70th in the nation in three-point field goals per game.
Cronk joins Doran with a No. 80 ranking in three-point goals per game. Gottschalk claims the 76th spot in the nation in field goal percentage and is 92nd overall in points per game.
