SAN DIEGO — The Santa Clara University women's basketball team needed a battle; an opportunity to prove itself.
And it got one on Thursday night.
Trailing by eight at halftime and as much as 10 in the second quarter, the Broncos went off in the second half, shooting 50.0% and outscoring host San Diego, 41-27, to come from behind and earn their first West Coast Conference road win of the season, 62-56, at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Santa Clara (12-9, 3-5 WCC) entered Thursday with five defeats in WCC play, but it had leads or tie scores in four of them. The Broncos have been competitive in close contests (3-4 record in games decided by 10 points or less) throughout the year, but injuries and illness had let some of those games get away in recent weeks (0-3 in the same situation since Dec. 17).
Thursday, the Broncos reaped the benefits of having veteran Lexie Pritchard back on the floor. Pritchard shared the game-high in points with teammate Ashlee Maldonado, pouring in 13 on 6-for-10 shooting. She also had two rebounds, an assist, a block and a steal. Maldonado scored 13 with two assists, a rebound and a steal. Tess Heal scored 12 points, including going a perfect 4 for 4 from the free-throw line in the game's final 20 seconds to seal the victory. Lara Edmanson scored 10 points and pulled down four rebounds.
Q3, 4:53 | #Broncos 33, @USDwbb 33
— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) January 20, 2023
We've got a tie game! ��
Lexie Pritchard with her game-leading 1️⃣3️⃣th point to bring the Broncos back even!#StampedeTogether | #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/6ZhhLWGvjP
The Broncos' comeback started right at the whistle in the third quarter. They burst out of the gate with a go-ahead, 14-4 run to take a 35-33 lead 5 1/2 minutes into the second half. The lead would change hands seven more times after that, but neither team would lead by more than three – and that was only once, when Maldonado completed a 3-point play with a layup and a free throw with 6:24 left in the fourth quarter.
Q4, 6:24 | #Broncos 48, @USDwbb 45
— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) January 20, 2023
Ashlee Maldonado drives and gets the Hoop & the Harm for a 3️⃣-point play and the lead!#StampedeTogether | #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/4WMTuu6uot
San Diego led twice in the final two minutes – after Kiera Oakry hit a 3-pointer to put them up, 54-53; and after Kasey Neubert hit consecutive free throws to give USD a 56-55 lead with 55 seconds left.
And that's when the Broncos came up clutch.
Ashlee Maldonado got a huge offensive rebound on the next possession off a missed 3-pointer, grabbing it right out of the hands of Myah Pace and laying it in for a 57-56 Santa Clara lead. Heal then snagged SCU's seventh steal of the game on the Toreros' ensuing possession to give the Broncos back the ball and a chance to grow their lead. She'd hit both her free throws to make it 59-56 with 20 seconds left.
San Diego closed the game going 0 for 3 from 3-point range in the last 16 seconds, and it didn't make a field goal after Oakry's 3-pointer at the 1:44 mark (0 for 5).
San Diego (10-9, 4-4 WCC) entered the game as the second-worst shooting team in the conference, and performed as such. The Toreros shot 30.8% in the game, and only 28.6% in the first half. But they led by eight, 29-21, at halftime because they held the Broncos to 36.4% shooting. USD was also a perfect 10 for 10 from the free-throw line in the first half, while Santa Clara missed five freebies.
San Diego dominated the glass, outrebounding Santa Clara, 49-31. But it only got 10 second-chance points off of 21 offensive rebounds. Kasey Neubert pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds. Laura Erikstrup had 10 boards to go with a team-high 11 points for a double-double.
Santa Clara next travels to BYU for a 1 p.m. PST tip on Saturday. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
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