Buy Tickets | UC Santa Barbara Game Notes | Video | Live Stats

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Getting set for the final nonconference game of the regular season, Santa Clara women's basketball welcomes UC Santa Barbara to the Leavey Center Friday at 6 p.m. The Broncos moved their winning streak to eight games with a 75-70 win over Texas Tech and are now No. 26 in the RPI.

The Broncos have now recorded a pair of wins in the same season against Power Five Conference teams for the first time since 2000-01 and second in the last 19 years.

The Broncos defeated Cal, 77-73, on Dec. 10, 2000 on the road, and 20 days later knocked off Texas Tech, 61-56, at home.

The last time Santa Clara had a longer winning streak was when it won nine in a row from Jan. 21-Feb. 17, 2006. The Broncos were WCC regular season co-champions and made the first round of the WNIT.

Its 8-2 start is the best for Santa Clara since beginning the 2001-02 season 12-2.

Santa Clara (8-2) is winning with its defense. The Broncos are second in the West Coast Conference in points allowed per game (57.5) and lead in field goal percentage against (35.9). The Broncos are also cleaning up on the glass where they outrebound teams 43.8-32.0. Both figures are second in the conference and the +11.8 differential is tops in the WCC and 16th in the country. They also lead the WCC with 17.6 offensive rebounds per game and 13.3 steals per game, good for fifth in the nation. They are forcing 23.5 turnovers per game.

Morgan McGwire leads Santa Clara with 14.3 ppg on a conference-best 58.8 percent (60 of 102) shooting from the floor. That mark is No. 18 in the nation. She is second on the team with 6.5 rpg and has added 1.9 spg and 1.0 apg. Savanna Hanson leads the Broncos with 12 3-pointers made and is scoring 10.1 ppg. Hanson also leads the team with 3.0 apg and has added 2.4 spg. Devin Hudson is tops on the team with 6.6 rpg and is scoring 7.0 ppg. Taylor Berry leads the WCC with 3.1 spg, good for No. 23 in the nation, and is adding 7.2 ppg to go with 3.9 rpg.

Santa Clara is 4-5 all-time vs. UC Santa Barbara with the first meeting coming in 1980-81. Earlier this season the Broncos traveled down the coast and beat the Gauchos 48-37.

UC Santa Barbara (1-10) is 0-7 on the road this year. The Gauchos are coming off losses at LSU and Louisiana-Lafayette. They are being outscored by 12.2 ppg and outrebounded 39.8-32.7.

"UC Santa Barbara has played a very tough schedule this preseason and is coming off a challenging trip to Louisiana," said Santa Clara head coach JR Payne. "They have added a great post player in Je Zhe Newton who is 6-4 and adds considerable size and depth to their front court. The last time we played UCSB, it was a very low scoring affair with both teams turning the ball over more than we would have liked. I expect both teams will be focusing on taking care of the ball better and putting it in the hoop."

Makala Roper leads the Gauchos with 11.2 ppg and is second with 2.0 apg. Je zhe Newton leads the team with 5.7 rpg and is scoring 4.7 ppg but has played in just three games. Onome Jemerigbe is tops of UC Santa Barbara with 2.3 apg and is scoring 4.2 ppg.