LAS VEGAS – Santa Clara women's basketball's season came to an end in a 72-63 defeat to third-seeded San Francisco Saturday in the quarterfinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament.

The Broncos (16-15), playing for the third time in three days and down their leading scorer, battled the whole way and got to as close as one after trailing by 15 in the second half but couldn't quite get over the hump.

A 10-0 run to start the fourth quarter turned the game around and got Santa Clara within one. Lana Hollingsworth hit a 3-pointer and Anna Johnson added one of her own to cap the run and make it 58-57 at the 8:38 mark.

The Broncos would remain within four and Ashley Hiraki's layup with 2:52 on the clock made the score 65-63 and looked to set up an exciting finish. The Dons (17-14) had other ideas and finished the game on a 7-0 run.

Hiraki led the way on offense with 17 points and added seven rebounds as well. Hollingsworth filled up the stat sheet with 14 points, eight boards and six assists while Merle Wiehl scored 12 with eight rebounds and Johnson added 12 points as well.

Things didn't start well for Santa Clara as San Francisco scored the first 10 points of the game and got up as much as 20-5 late in the first quarter as the Broncos couldn't hit a shot. Things changed over the final two minutes as Santa Clara closed the quarter on a 12-2 run, behind four 3-pointers to make it a game at 22-17 after 10 minutes.

The first half saw the Dons shoot over 50-percent from the field while the Broncos were under 30-percent. Despite the disparity in shooting, Santa Clara hung around thanks to 11 first half points from Ashley Hiraki and six 3-pointers while holding San Francisco to just one from distance.

In the end, Santa Clara shot 35.7-percent from the field and connected on 11 3-pointers in 34 attempts while San Francisco was at 48.1-percent despite just 4-of-21 from downtown. The Dons also took advantage of 23 trips to the free throw line while the Broncos got there just three times.

Ioanna Krimili finished with 18 points, six rebounds, and seven assists to lead San Francisco. Claudia Langarita scored 16 with Kennedy Dickie adding 12 and Amalie Langer scoring 11.

NOTES

• Santa Clara is now 65-45 all-time against San Francisco.
• The Broncos were without Lindsey VanAllen who suffered a broken wrist against San Diego in the second round. They were also 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.

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