San Jose's Nici Gilday and the Broncos Open Season Friday Night
All-WCC Preseason Team Announcement on WCCSports.com
Jennifer Mountain Previews the Weekend on the BWSW

Game Notes (PDF)

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Santa Clara University women's basketball team officially opens its 2012-13 campaign at home against UC Irvine Friday, Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. On Sunday Nov. 11, the Broncos welcome No. 4 Stanford to the Mission campus at 2 p.m. Both games will be played at Santa Clara's Leavey Center, 500 El Camino Real on the Santa Clara campus and will be aired live on SantaClaraBroncos.com.

Game Notes Week #1 - Nov. 5-11, 2012
UC IRVINE @ SANTA CLARA
Friday, Nov. 9, 2012 • 7 p.m.
Game #1 • Home Game #1 • Santa Clara, Calif.
Live Video | Live Stats

#4 STANFORD# @ SANTA CLARA
Sunday, Nov. 11, 2012 • 2 p.m.
Game #2 • Home Game #2  • Santa Clara, Calif.
Live Video | Live Stats

# Stanford will open its season at home Friday, Nov. 9 vs. Fresno State

LIVE COVERAGE
A live pay-per-view video broadcast of Friday night's game will be available on Santa Clara's official athletics website (SantaClaraBroncos.com). John Nash (play-by-play) will call the action courtside from the Leavey Center. A season pass is available for $49.99 or single games can be viewed for $9.99. Additionally, SCU will offer FREE live stats for both home games this week courtesy of StatBroadcast.

TICKETS
Season tickets start at just $40 for youth/seniors and $52 for adults.  Single-game tickets start at just $5. For the best value, purchase a Family Plan for $100. The Family Plan includes two adult and three youth tickets to each and every home game. Tickets are available for purchase online at SantaClaraBroncos.com/buytickets or by calling the ticket office directly at 408-554-4660.

GAME PROMOTIONS
There will be a series of events and promotions surrounding the opening weekend of basketball at SCU's Leavey Center. SCU basketball is teaming with Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties to help distribute food to people in need. Donations will be accepted at the Leavey Center entrances for all three upcoming home games. Fans can receive a dollar off their ticket price per can donated Friday night against UCI. Additionally, Sunday is 'Alumni Day' at SCU. The Bronco Bench Foundation (BBF) will be hosting a BBF Bistro on Sunday. Additionally, all Ruff Riders in attendance will receive double points Sunday while the Girl Scouts, and Boys and Girls Clubs will be on hand as well.  

WEEKLY NOTES
* Santa Clara is led by fifth-year head coach Jennifer Mountain
* The Broncos were 12-18 last season (8-7 at home)
* SCU was picked to finish sixth the nine-team WCC
* SCU returns All-WCC upperclassmen: Meagan Fulps, Lindsay Leo, Ricki Radanovich
* The Broncos are opening the year with three regular season home games
* Meagan Fulps was named to the 2012-13 Preseason All-WCC team
* Fulps ranks 11^th in SCU history in scoring avg. and owns 962 career points
* The Broncos must fill the void left by record-setting point guard Alyssa Shoji, who broke the WCC and SCU record for 3s in a single-season (99) last year
* Santa Clara boasts a team GPA of 3.1 and had a league-best three players named to the WCC All-Academic Team last spring
* The Broncos beat Div. III UC Santa Cruz 90-52 and Div. II Sonoma State 74-54 in exhibition action last week
* UCI defeated SCU 88-82 last year in Irvine despite a 33-point effort from Bronco center Ruta Zurauskyte
* Former Idaho State men's head coach and long-time Stanford men's assistant coach Doug Oliver was named UCI's new head coach this offseason
* Stanford – who hosts Fresno State Friday – is ranked No. 4 in both national polls
* The Cardinal return 11 players from last year's Final Four roster, including four starters
* Tara VanDerveer boasts a record of 709-149 entering her 27th season at Stanford
* NEXT UP: SCU's season-opening homestand concludes Sunday, Nov. 17 at 2 p.m. against Utah Valley

HEAD COACH JENNIFER MOUNTAIN
Fifth-year Jennifer Mountain has improved Santa Clara's win-total in each of her seasons on the Mission campus, while her student-athletes have garnered local, regional and national recognition stemming from their academic achievements and the program's commitment to community service. Mountain and her 2011-12 team won six of its first seven games, the program's best start in over 10 years. SCU finished with 12 wins, the team posted a collective GPA of 3.12 and a league-best three student-athletes were named to the 2012 West Coast Conference All-Academic Team. In her third season at SCU, 2010-11, Mountain led the Broncos to a top-tier finish in the WCC standings and for the third-straight year won at least one postseason game at the conference tournament. The team climbed up the league standings in 2010-11, finishing in a tie for fourth after winning 4 of 7 WCC games at home and winning 11 games overall. Mountain's team closed out the season with a 9-9 record in their last 18 games, including winning back-to-back WCC games twice and beating rival USF at the WCC tournament in March.

The Jen Mountain File:
• Head Coach - Santa Clara University (2008-pres.)
• Assistant Coach- Gonzaga University (2001-08)
• Boys Head Coach - St. George's School (1994-2001)
• Amateur Player - Gonzaga University (1987-91)

QUOTABLE
"We have a veteran group that has really come out and set the tone early," said Santa Clara head coach Jennifer Mountain about the team's preseason preparation. "I think our leadership has been great so far and I think we are ahead of where we were last year, especially in terms of executing defensively. We are really trying to emphasis the defensive side of the ball and they are buying in and doing a better job."

FINAL 2011-12 WCC STANDINGS
No. 24 Gonzaga #$ (14-2/28-6)
BYU $ (12-4/26-7)
San Diego % (12-4/26-9)
Saint Mary's % (11-5/22-11)
Pepperdine (8-8/14-15)
Santa Clara (5-11/12-18)
Portland (4-12/12-20)
Loyola Marymount (5-9/11 18)
San Francisco (3-13/5-25)

# Rankings by ESPN Coaches Poll
$ NCAA Tournament
% WNIT

MEAGAN FULPS, LINDSAY LEO NAMED ONE OF WCC'S BEST PLAYERS
Santa Clara University seniors Meagan Fulps and Lindsay Leo both drew praise recently in preseason West Coast Conference women's basketball polls. Fulps was voted to the official WCC Preseason All-Conference Team by the league's coaches, while College Sports Madness named Leo to its preseason All-WCC First Team. Fulps, a 5-7 off-guard from Littleton, Colorado, enters her senior year ranked 11th all-time at SCU in career scoring ave. (11.3). She has totaled 962 career points and has twice earned both All-WCC postseason honors and WCC All-Academic accolades. Leo was terrific for the Broncos as a junior last season. The homegrown product of San Jose's Archbishop Mity High School was a 2011-12 All-WCC Honorable Mention pick after averaging 11.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per night in WCC play. Leo's 70 career blocks ranks 5th all-time at SCU.

2012-13 PRESEASON ALL-WCC TEAM
Player School Yr. Pos.
Alex Cowling (LMU) RS-Sr. G/F
Lexi Eaton (BYU) So. G
Meagan Fulps (SCU) Sr. G
Jennifer Hamson (BYU) Jr. C
Amy Kame (USD) Jr. G
Taelor Karr (GU) Sr. G
Danielle Mauldin (SMC) Jr. F
Jackie Nared (SMC) Jr. G
Haiden Palmer (GU) Jr. G
Haley Steed (BYU) Sr. G

2012-13 WCC PRESEASON POLL
Team (First Place Votes)
BYU (5) 61
Gonzaga (4) 60
Saint Mary's 48
San Diego 36
Pepperdine 33
Santa Clara 27
Loyola Marymount 25
Portland 24
San Francisco 10

THE NEXT GENERATION OF BRONCOS
One year removed from landing a nationally-ranked recruiting class, fifth-year head coach Jennifer Mountain and the Santa Clara University Broncos, have enhanced an already deep roster with four new players for the upcoming 2012-13 season.

"This is a very exciting time for us. I am thrilled with the depth we have on our roster and with the people we are bringing into the program," says Mountain. "Our talent level continues to improve and our collective pool of recruits will help us to compete at a higher level. My assistants have done a great job of targeting student-athletes that fit with the school, our team and our program." read more...

EACH AND EVERY DAY! PHOTO ON INSTAGRAM (santaclarawbb)
The Bronco women's basketball program is on Instagram and will be posting a photo every day of the 2012-13 season. Log on to Instagram via your mobile device and follow santaclarawbb!

RICH BROWN NAMED ASSISTANT COACH THIS OFFSEASON
Rich Brown '77, the director of Santa Clara University women's basketball development the past three years, has been hired by SCU Head Coach Jennifer Mountain as assistant coach. Brown will continue to have a major impact on the program, moving his focus to mentoring the post players, recruiting, scouting and practice planning.

A former Bronco student-athlete, Brown's coaching resume spans 30-plus years, most recently serving as head basketball coach at San Jose's Presentation High School (2001 through 2007).  During his tenure at Presentation, Brown consistently had the Panthers ranked among the region's Top 20 programs according to the San Francisco Chronicle, while competing in the West Catholic Athletic League (WCAL), one of the state's top conferences.

BEST START IN OVER 10 YEARS
The Broncos will look to repeat its 6-1 start to its season last fall. It was the program's best since SCU went 9-0 to open the 1999-2000 campaign. The team scored over 80 points per game during that stretch, which ranked among the NCAA's leading offenses. Five of those wins came on their home floor at Santa Clara's Leavey Center.

CREATING A CULTURE OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Santa Clara's work ethic on the basketball court has translated into success in the classroom. With a team GPA of 3.1, head coach Jennifer Mountain's emphasis on academic prowess continues to pay off, facilitating a culture that has allowed 10 of the team's 16 players to post GPA's above a 3.0 last spring. An array of majors, including Business, Biology, Engineering and Anthropology, make up a wide range of areas that comprise the team's academic pursuits.

"That's something we look for when we're recruiting," said Mountain, who is now in her fifth season at Santa Clara. "The kids that are excelling in the classroom generally are the kids that excel for me on the floor. I've been very blessed. I don't have to worry about them going to class, and worry about eligibility issues or anything like that."

2011-12 SANTA CLARA HIGHLIGHTS
* WCC Honorable Mention – Alyssa Shoji (Sr. G); Lindsay Leo (Jr. F)
* WCC All-Academic – Ashley Armstrong (Jr. G); Meagan Fulps (Jr. G), Ricki Radanovich (So. G) – SCU leads all schools with three honorees
* WCC All-Academic Honorable Mention – Ruta Zurauskyte (Jr. F)
* Broncos improve their win-total for fourth straight season
* SCU finishes regular season No. 10 in NCAA in 3PT shooting (7.6 pg) as a team
* Alyssa Shoji sets new WCC record for three-pointers made (99)
* Alyssa Shoji finishes as WCC's No. 2 all-time leader in 3PT FG (286)
* Alyssa Shoji finishes career No. 4 all-time at SCU in scoring (1,374)
* Alyssa Shoji also No. 1 all-time at SCU in minutes (3,928), No. 7 in assists (327) and No. 5 in FT% (82.2)
* Alyssa Shoji competes in the State Farm College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships live on ESPN at the Final Four
* Lindsay Leo's 36 blocked shots ranks No. 6 in single-season SCU history
* Lindsay Leo moves into No. 5 all-time at SCU in blocks (70)
* Meagan Fulps makes 17 free throws Nov. 11, 2011; breaking SCU record
* Ruta Zurauskyte named 'National Player of the Week' by Jesuit Basketball
* Santa Clara's 96 points at Sacramento State is 2nd-most in school history on road
* The team's 6-1 start was its best since the 1999-2000 season
* 10 of team's 16 players boast GPA's above 3.0