SANTA CLARA, Calif. – A balanced attack led to a season-opening win for Santa Clara women's basketball over Cal Poly by a final of 91-77.

Ashly Hiraki had a career day to lead the Broncos (1-0) on offense. She scored a career-high 21 on 7-of-12 shooting. Hiraki also set a career high with five rebounds and tied a career-best with five assists.

Lindsey VanAllen, Lexie Pritchard, and Merle Wiehl all joined Hiraki in double-figures. VanAllen scored 19 and also dished out five assists to set a career-high. Pritchard scored a career-high 18 on 7-of-8 shooting and pulled down five boards as well. Wiehl scored 12 with a game-high nine rebounds.

As a team, Santa Clara shot 48.5-percent from the floor and connected nine times from downtown.

Cal Poly was trying to get back in the game in the fourth and got the deficit down to 78-67 at 3:51 with a 6-0 run, but the Broncos responded at the charity stripe by knocking down their free throws to keep the game out of reach.

On the night, the Mustangs (0-1) shot 52.5-percent from the field and were 6-of-14 from beyond the arc.

Maddie Willett led the team with 18 points while Sydney Bourland scored 13 with four assists and Shah added 10. Maddie Vick had a team-best six assists and Kirsty Brown pulled down six rebounds, the most on the team. Both scored eight points.

Santa Clara had stretched its lead in the first half to nine when Cal Poly responded with eight in a row to get within one. But like later in the game, the Broncos had an answer and scored the final 10 points of the half with Bryce Nixon's 3-pointer and jumper leading the way. It gave Santa Clara a 46-35 lead at the break.

A close game for the first seven minutes, Santa Clara went on a 12-2 run that closed the first period and started the second stretched the lead out to 29-20. Six different Broncos scored during the stretch.

INTERVIEW

��️ Hear from head coach Bill Carr after the Broncos 91-77 win over Cal Poly to open the 2021-22 season.#StampedeTogether pic.twitter.com/E3DKv3oEe2

— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) November 11, 2021

NOTES

• Santa Clara is now 12-6 all-time against Cal Poly.
• Eight of the nine players that saw time for the Broncos played at least 12 minutes and all eight made a field goal.
• Santa Clara forced 20 turnovers and turned them into 17 points. They had six steals.
• The Broncos also won the rebounding battle 36-27 and 14-5 on the offensive glass. It allowed them to hold a 16-4 edge in second chance points.
• Santa Clara had 20 assists on 33 made field goals.

NEXT UP
The Broncos host Nevada Sunday at 2 p.m.

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