SANTA CLARA, Calif. - At halftime of the San Diego game at 2 p.m. on Sat. Feb. 8, Santa Clara will honor the jerseys of two Bronco greats in Caren Choppelas Horstmeyer '84 and Liz Bruno '82. Bruno is the only women's basketball player in Santa Clara history with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Choppelas finished her time at Santa Clara No. 1 on the all-time scoring list and currently sits at No. 3. She was also the head coach of the Broncos from 1988-2000 and led the team to the 1991 WNIT title.
Bruno played for Santa Clara from 1978 through 1982 and holds the career record for rebounds with 1,218 and is 16th on the all-time points list with 1,081 and is the only women's basketball player with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. She holds the top-two single season rebound totals and led the Broncos in rebounding each of her four seasons on the Mission campus. Bruno not only shined on the court, but in the classroom as well, as she was an Academic All-American Honorable Mention in 1982.
A 1992 inductee to the Santa Clara University Hall of Fame, Bruno was a finalist for the Women's Post-Graduate Scholarship in 1982 and was a District 8 All-American. She was the first woman to receive the Victor F. Corsiglia Jr. Santa Clara University Athlete of the Year Award. That season Bruno was First-Team All-NorCal League, led the conference in rebounding and ranked sixth nationally, was the Holiday Classic Tournament MVP, and was Co-MVP on the Broncos.
As a junior Bruno was the Santa Clara NorCal Student Athlete of the Year and in addition to being the NorCal Rebounding champion and ranking 10th nationally. She was named the team MVP for the first time that season as well.
Bruno, a clinical therapist, resides in Redmond, Wash. and has two sons, Tim and Patrick.
Choppelas-Horstmeyer played for the Broncos from 1980-1984 and was the Head Coach from 1989-2000.
As a player Horstmeyer won MVP honors three years running, from 1982 through 1984 and was also named First Team All-NorPac Conference in 1983 and 1984. She graduated as the all-time leading scorer with 1,496 points and is currently No. 3 on the all-time list. At the time of her graduation she also held the records for most points in a game (32), most assists in a career (220); most steals in a season (58) and career (166); and most games played (107). As a senior in 1984, Horstmeyer also lettered in softball and was chosen that year as SCU's Best Female Athlete. Horstmeyer played professional basketball in Greece for two years.
As a coach, Horstmeyer compiled an overall record of 221-124 while leading the team to six West Coast Conference regular season titles and two WCC Tournament titles, as well as four trips to the NCAA Tournament. In 1990-91 Horstmeyer and the Broncos went 28-3 en route to winning the WNIT. The 28 wins is the highest single-season mark in Bronco history while Horstmeyer's 221 wins are also tops all-time at Santa Clara. Santa Clara received its first national ranking in 1998-99 and led the nation in field goal defense in 1997-98 with a 35.0% mark.
Horstmeyer also served as head coach of the East team at the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1993. She was also active on selection committees for the U.S. Olympic team, the Converse Coach of the Year Award and the Kodak All-America team. She has been inducted into the Santa Clara University, Marin County and Redwood High School Hall of Fame.
The culmination of her career was as the Head Women's Basketball Coach at UC Berkeley from 2000 through 2005, where she won Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors in 2004.
She earned her Masters Degree in Educational Administration in 1996. She is married to Bill Horstmeyer and they have two children, Arend and Kylie.
