BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – A 280-day gap between games didn't slow down Santa Clara women's basketball as the Broncos opened the 2020-21 season with a 59-49 win over CSU Bakersfield Friday night on the road.

"It was fun to be out there competing again," Santa Clara head coach Bill Carr said. "I'm proud of the team for going out there without having played an exhibition or a scrimmage and looking good. We got contributions from a lot of people. I thought we did well tonight and it was a good team win."

Lexie Pritchard led a balanced offensive attack with a career high 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting. Fellow junior Lindsey VanAllen registered 10 points with senior Ashlyn Herlihy scoring nine and adding five rebounds.

"You lean on experience early in the year until the new players get their feet under them," Carr said. "It was good to see our veterans step up."

Defensively, Santa Clara (1-0) forced 24 Roadrunners (1-2) turnovers and collected 16 steals, with Pritchard (3), VanAllen (4), and Herlihy (4) combining for 11, which set a career high for VanAllen and tied one for Herlihy.

The Broncos went deep in their rotation with 11 players seeing action and nine scoring while shooting 47.9-percent from the floor. The Broncos also had five of their eight newcomers see their first action for the team.

"We're going to be a work in progress so it's important for the newcomers to get a feel for how things are done and the level of play and energy that's needed at this level," Carr said. "It's nice to be able to learn while you win."

Down two after the first quarter, Santa Clara opened the second on a 14-4 run that saw both Ashley Hiraki and Bryce Nixon score their first points for the Broncos. Hiraki knocked down a jumper and Nixon drilled a triple from the corner to make it a 26-18 Santa Clara lead midway through the period.

Bakersfield would respond in the third quarter and get within three. An 8-1 run capped by Makenzie Bond's layup with 4:45 on the clock got the Roadrunners within 33-30.

After a bit of back-and-forth, a 15-4 run spanning the end of the third and start of the fourth gave the Broncos some breathing room. Herlihy scored the first seven of the run with Hiraki knocking down a triple and Lana Hollingsworth and Ashlee Maldonado's back-to-back buckets making it a game-high 49-36 lead with six minutes to go.

The Roadrunners best stretch of the game came early in the first quarter when they rattled off eight in a row to take their biggest lead of the game at 10-3 four and a half minutes in. Vanessa Austin scored six of the points with Jayden Eggleston adding a jumper as well.

Austin scored a game high 22 for Bakersfield on 8-of-12 shooting while also pulling down eight rebounds. She was the lone Roadrunner in double figures with Eggleston's eight the next highest total.

UP NEXT
The Broncos take on Cal Poly Monday and Tuesday in San Luis Obispo. Both games will tip at 3 p.m.

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