LOS ANGELES — It was a full team effort for the Santa Clara University women's basketball team Thursday, as the Broncos used every eligible player on their roster to come from behind in the second half and earn a 66-62 non-conference road victory against CSUN at Premier America Credit Union Arena.
The Broncos (2-2) used 12 total players Thursday, with nine of them scoring at least two points, seven of them grabbing at least one rebound, seven dishing at least one assist and four of them swiping at least one steal.
The hot start to freshman guard Tess Heal's career continued Thursday, as she led the Broncos with 19 points in only 20 minutes of playing time. She made seven of 11 shot attempts (63.6%) with one 3-pointer and was perfect from the free-throw line (4 for 4).
Lara Edmanson turned in the Broncos' first double-double of the season. She scored 11 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. She also grabbed four steals, handed out two assists and recorded a block. Ayzhiana Basallo and Ashlee Maldonado each added nine points and a steal.
CSUN (0-4) was led by Michelle Duchemin's 23-point, 15-point double-double in their home opener. Jordyn Jackson chipped in 13 points, five rebounds, two steals and an assist for the Matadors.
CSUN dominated the rebounding battle, 42-29, but where Santa Clara got the best of them was in the turnover game. The Matadors committed 26 turnovers in the game – seven more than the Broncos. Those turnovers led to 21 Santa Clara points.
Santa Clara never trailed by more than seven points, and it actually led in the game nearly 65% of the time, but it trailed at halftime, 33-31.
That's when it became the Heal and Edmanson show.
The duo took over for Santa Clara in the third quarter. Heal and Edmanson scored 15 of the Broncos' 19 third-quarter points. Five of Edmanson's 12 rebounds came in the third alone. Heal sat for more than half the quarter but still managed to score nine points in the period. She subbed back in with only nine seconds on the clock and managed to beat the buzzer with a layup, giving the Broncos a five-point, 50-45 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Santa Clara wraps up its first road trip of the season on Saturday at Cal Baptist (1-2), double-overtime losers at home to Northern Arizona on Wednesday. Fans can find all live coverage links on the Broncos' schedule page.
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