WCC Basketball Tournament Central | Bracket
LAS VEGAS – Hot shooting and big days from Merle Wiehl and Lindsey VanAllen led Santa Clara women's basketball to an 83-68 win over LMU in the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament on Saturday.
The fourth-seeded Broncos (14-10) shot 57.7 percent from the field, including an astounding 72.0 mark in the first half, and got 20-point games from Wiehl and VanAllen to advance to Monday's semifinal against Gonzaga.
Wiehl scored a career high 28 on 11-of-15 shooting and 4-of-7 from downtown while also adding four rebounds. VanAllen added 22 on 9-of-12 shooting and was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc with four boards.
The game was close at the start of the second despite Santa Clara shooting 11-of-13 from the field in the first quarter. No. 8 seed LMU (7-19) hung around and got within three early in the second quarter when Cierra Ellington's layup at 9:02 made it 25-22.
After that bucket, the game became all Broncos. They would finish the half on a 22-3 run, not allowing a field goal for the final 5:14. Wiehl scored eight points during the second quarter, and 16 in the first half.
The Broncos led by more than 20 points for the entire third quarter, extending it to 70-41 on VanAllen's layup with 4 seconds left.
Ashley Hiraki had nine points and Lexie Pritchard eight for the Broncos who took advantage of 19 LMU turnovers by turning them into 29 points.
The Lions didn't get their offense going until the fourth when they outscored Santa Clara 27-13. In the quarter, LMU shot 8-for-14 and were a perfect 3-of-3 from downtown.
Khari Clark led the team with 16 points and seven rebounds with Chelsea Gipson scoring 15 on 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Ariel Johnson scored 13 and grabbed six boards.
As well as its impressive shooting during the first half, Santa Clara held LMU to 34.8 percent. The Broncos dominated down low, holding a 28-12 edge in points in the paint, including 20 of their 25 in the first quarter. They also scored 16 points off of 11 LMU turnovers.
Check out the @HerculesTires Strong Plays of the Game from Saturday's @WCCSports Tournament victory over LMU!#StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/cFmVos0lzv
— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) March 7, 2021
Highlights from @wiehl_merle's career day that led @Santaclarawbb to the dub!@DriveToyota | #WCChoops pic.twitter.com/J3PWS4qdvj
— WCC Basketball (@WCChoops) March 6, 2021
NOTES
• Santa Clara is now 51-29 all-time against LMU.
• The Broncos will finish with a winning record overall and in conference play for the first time since 2015-16 when they made the WNIT. That season they went 23-9 and 13-5 in WCC play.
• Ashlyn Herlihy is now 12th all-time at Santa Clara with 1,147 career points.
UP NEXT
The Broncos face top-seeded Gonzaga Monday at 11 a.m. in the semifinals.
2021 University Credit Union West Coast Conference Tournament Schedule
Monday, March 8
SEMIFINALS
• Semifinal: No. 1 Gonzaga vs No. 4 Santa Clara, 11 a.m. (RSNs, BYUtv, WCC Network)
• Semifinal: No. 2 Brigham Young vs No. 3 San Franciso/No. 7 Saint Mary's Winner, 2 p.m. (RSNs, BYUtv, WCC Network)
Tuesday, March 9
CHAMPIONSHIP
• 1 p.m. (ESPNU, ESPN app)
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