SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Santa Clara women's basketball was plagued by turnovers in a 67-54 defeat at the hands of San Francisco Saturday night in Kaiser Permanente Arena.
The Broncos (8-6, 4-4 WCC) committed a season high 23 giveaways and were outscored by the Dons (5-8, 2-6 WCC) 37-5 in points off turnovers.
"San Francisco played well," Santa Clara head coach Bill Carr said. "Give them all the credit. They came in and hit us in the jaw and we really didn't respond all that well. Lesson learned. You've got to be ready to play in this league."
Despite struggling to take care of the ball, Santa Clara was within four at the end of the third quarter thanks to an 8-0 run after both teams went cold from the field late in the period with San Francisco not scoring over the final 5:22 and Santa Clara going 6:35 without a field goal. The Broncos managed to score behind six free throws and a buzzer beating layup that made the score 39-35.
San Francisco responded out of the gate in the fourth quarter and scored the first 10 of the period that led on a 16-2 run that built a lead that was too much for the Broncos to overcome. The run saw two 3-pointers from both Amalie Langer and Ioanna Krimili, with the final one at 6:25 making the score 55-37.
"Our defense let us down in the fourth quarter," Carr said. "We were chasing the ball around and they took advantage of it. We did cut it to four but then just couldn't keep the momentum. All credit to them."
Langer led all players with 21 points and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the floor and 3-for-3 from downtown. Krimli scored 17, with all five field goals coming from beyond the arc and Lucie Hoskova added 14.
There was a brief glimmer of hope for Santa Clara when Lindsey VanAllen went on a 6-0 run all by herself midway through the fourth. Her jumper with 5:25 on the clock cut the deficit to 55-43 but an and-one for the Dons ended the momentum.
VanAllen finished the night with nine points and six rebounds. Ashlyn Herlihy scored a team high 11 with seven boards and Ashley Hiraki tied a career high with 10 points.
The first half saw Santa Clara struggle from the floor, shooting 28.6-percent from the field. Despite the difficulties scoring, the Broncos managed to get within one late in the second quarter before San Francisco ended the half on a 9-0 run to go into the locker room with a 30-20 lead.
The Broncos first went cold over the final 4:17 of the first quarter after a 7-0 run saw them take a 9-7 lead. They missed their final five shots of the period and San Francisco responded with seven in a row, five coming from Krimili, to close the first 10 minutes with a 14-9 advantage.
The Broncos came right back and drew even with the first five points of the second quarter, but the Dons answered back with the next seven as Santa Clara's woes continued and missed five shots in a row.
Check out the @HerculesTires Strong Plays of the Game from Saturday's action against San Francisco!#StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/ARX9jphFyD
— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) January 25, 2021
��️ Hear from head coach Bill Carr on tonight's game against San Francisco.
— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) January 24, 2021
Postgame interview presented by @ROATweets.#StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/jhc99PKFzL
NOTES
- Santa Clara is now 64-42 all-time against San Francisco.
- The Broncos outrebounded the Dons 43-27 and 16-7 on the offensive glass. They also held a 16-7 advantage in second half points.
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