SAN DIEGO, Calif. – A strong defensive effort, and a stand when it mattered most, gave Santa Clara women's basketball an exciting 51-49 win at San Diego Monday night to open West Coast Conference play.

After the Toreros (3-3, 0-1 WCC) erased a 13-point fourth quarter deficit, freshman Ashley Hiraki found the ball in her hands on the Broncos' (5-2, 1-0 WCC) final possession and converted a layup with a defender on her hip and 10 seconds on the clock for what proved the be the winning bucket.

"Ashley made a really good play there at the end," Santa Clara head coach Bill Carr said. "She had the presence of mind to go in really strong and lay it in. It doesn't surprise me because she's a really mature freshman that played in a lot of big games in high school. She came through with a big play for us tonight."

On the ensuing possession, Steph Gorman put up a contested shot that was off the mark and a Santa Clara rebound sealed the victory.

The Broncos able to withstand the late run thanks to strong defense all night. They held the Toreros to just 27.1-percent from the field, including 18.2-percent in the first half.

"The last stop was a really good effort on our part," Carr said. "We forced an off balance shot and were able to secure the rebound. The whole group did a nice job on the defensive end tonight."

Santa Clara also had to make do with just two minutes in the first half from leading scorer and rebounder Ashlyn Herlihy who picked up two quick fouls. Once she was back on the court to start the second half, the Broncos built the first substantial lead of the game and had a 42-30 lead after three quarters.

"The third quarter saw a stretch where our execution got better," Carr said. "The ball was moving better, and we were able to get a few more open shots and knock them down."

Herlihy led the way during her team's 15-5 run over seven minutes in the third with all eight of her points. She would also grab a team best eight boards. Lindsey VanAllen finished with a game high 12 points and Lexie Pritchard added 11 and five rebounds.

"Our depth certainly helped tonight," Carr said. "We got good contributions off the bench. Not necessarily in points, but in energy and defense."

San Diego's late surge was capped by a 3-pointer from Jordyn Edwards with 23 seconds remaining. It closed a 17-4 stretch that began at the 8:10 mark with Santa Clara up 45-32. Edwards scored five of her six points during the run and got help from Ayanna Khalfani who added four of her five during the stretch as well.

Laura Erikstrup was the only San Diego player in double figures with 10 and added a game high 10 rebounds for the double-double. She was also the lone Torero to shoot over 30-percent from the field as she was 4-of-8.

The Broncos were also able to overcome San Diego's 20-5 edge on the offensive glass as the Toreros could only turn that into a 10-3 advantage in second chance points.

NOTES

• Santa Clara is now 38-42 all-time against San Diego.
• The Broncos led from the 2:22 mark of the second quarter until there were 23 seconds on the clock in the fourth.
• Tip was delayed approximately 45 minutes after a power outage due to weather.

UP NEXT
The Broncos are off to BYU where they will tip at 1 p.m. Pacific Wednesday.

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