SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Finishing a four-game road trip, Santa Clara women's basketball topped UC Santa Barbara 48-37 on Tuesday night. The Broncos five-game winning streak is their longest since they won five straight games from Nov. 16-Dec. 1, 2011.

Both teams struggled from the floor with Santa Clara (5-2) shooting 35.3% (18-51) and UC Santa Barbara (1-8) shooting just 27.7% (13-47). The Broncos continued to swarm on defense and forced 23 turnovers and dominated on the glass, holding a 45-31 advantage.

WCC Player of the Week Morgan McGwire led the way for Santa Clara with 13 points and nine rebounds. Taylor Berry scored eight and grabbed eight boards while Brooke Gallaway and Devin Hudson each scored seven.

Coco Miller led all scorers with 19 and five threes. Taylor Farris led the Gauchos with six rebounds and scored two points.

"We have won pretty and we have won ugly this year," said Santa Clara head coach JR Payne. "Obviously we'd prefer to play a perfect game but with so many new and young players, that's just not a reality. I'm very proud of our team for winning on the road and now we are thrilled to be headed home."

Santa Clara was able to pull away in the fourth quarter after a tight third that saw the lead get to as little as one. After UC Santa Barbara made it a four-point game with seven minutes to go, the Broncos went on an 8-0 run over three and a half minutes to build the lead to 43-31.

With two minutes to go in the game, the Gauchos got the deficit to single digits at 46-37 but the Broncos hit a pair from the charity stripe with under a minute to go to close out the game.

Both teams came out cold from the floor and had trouble taking care of the ball. With the game tied and the Gauchos holding for the last shot of the opening quarter, Berry stepped in a passing lane and went coast-to-coast as the clock hit zero to put the Broncos up 11-9.

The Broncos would score the first four points of the second quarter to make it a 6-0 run and build a 15-9 lead. They would get up by as many as eight but UC Santa Barbara hit a pair of threes in the final two minutes to make the score 21-17 at the half.

Santa Clara returns to action Friday at 6 p.m. vs. Simpson in the first game of a five-game homestand.