MORAGA, Calif. – A wild back-and-forth final quarter saw Saint Mary's hang on for a 78-73 win over Santa Clara women's basketball Thursday night.
The teams combined for 55 points in the fourth quarter and were a combined 9-for-16 from downtown. The 3-point shooting was a theme all night as the Broncos (10-9, 4-5 WCC) finished 11-of-22 and the Gaels (10-10, 4-5 WCC) went 13-of-24. Overall, Saint Mary's had the slight edge in shooting at 45.8-percent compared to 40.4-percent for Santa Clara.
With the game tied at 51, the Gaels got three consecutive from downtown to get in front by nine but the Broncos would chip away over the remainder of the quarter and got the deficit down to as low as one when Lindsey VanAllen converted a four-point play with 20 seconds left that made it a 74-73 game.
After two free throws for Taycee Wedin, VanAllen had a chance to tie the game with another 3-pointer but was off the mark and Tayla Dalton followed with two more from the charity stripe on the other end. Santa Clara got three shots off on the final possession but none would fall.
Wedin finished with a team-high 14 and was 4-of-8 from beyond the arc to lead a balanced attack that saw four in double-figures and two more with eight. Jade Kirisome scored 13 and Tayla Dalton added 12. Ali Bamberger had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
On the other end, VanAllen led all scorers with 28 points on 8-of-18 shooting. Merle Wiehl had her second double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 boards and Anna Johnson scored 10. Bryce Nixon and Danja Stafford both added nine.
The Broncos were still without Ashley Hiraki who has missed the last four games and Lana Hollingsworth and Lara Edmanson who have missed the last three. Hiraki had started the first 14 games of the year and Edmanson had started the first 16 games of the year. Hollingsworth had started 11 of the last 12 and appeared in all 16.
The missing players showed up on the stat sheet as Saint Mary's outscored Santa Clara 21-4 in bench points.
NOTES
- Santa Clara is now 38-44 all-time against Saint Mary's.
- Lindsey VanAllen is now at 1,121 career points, good for 15th all-time at Santa Clara. Next is Annie Garrison (1997-2001) with 1,128.
- The Broncos were without Lexie Pritchard who was injured at Long Beach State. Her return is uncertain. Ashlee Maldonado is also out and will miss the entire season.
- Bill Carr was back on the sidelines after missing the last three games.
NEXT UP
Santa Clara returns home and faces San Diego Saturday at 2 p.m.
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