STOCKTON, Calif. — Tess Heal and Olivia Pollerd both set new career highs Thursday with 20-point performances on the road, but host Pacific rode a strong second quarter on both sides of the ball to a 10-point, 83-73 West Coast Conference victory over the Santa Clara University women's basketball team at Alex G. Spanos Center.
Heal, the conference's three-time defending Freshman of the Week entering Thursday's game, scored a season-high 29 points. She scored 25 of her 29 in the second half, nearly willing the Broncos to a comeback. She added four assists, two rebounds and two steals while shooting 55% from the floor.
3-pointer from the 9️⃣-time @WCChoops Freshman of the week, Tess Heal!#StampedeTogether | #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/grvGoIBHE2
— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) February 10, 2023
Fellow Australian and underclassman Olivia Pollerd scored a career-high 20. 13 of her 20 points came after halftime, as she and Heal combined for 38 of the Broncos' 48 second-half points. Pollerd hit four 3-pointers Thursday, her fifth straight game with at least two treys. She's sank 15 3-pointers in her last five games. She added three rebounds, an assist and four blocks – her third consecutive game with multiple blocks. She's adding 3.7 rejections per game over those last three contests.
Pacific (11-14, 6-8 WCC) dominated the second quarter in all aspects, which would eventually be the difference in the game before Santa Clara (14-12, 5-8 WCC) surged in the second half. The Tigers outscored the Broncos 21-10 and went into halftime with a 17-point, 42-25 lead. They shot 56.3% in the second while holding the Broncos to only 4-for-17 shooting (23.5%). Pacific also outrebounded SCU 16-4 in the period.
Sam Ashby scored 22 points for the Tigers. She hit four 3-pointers and narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Liz Smith scored 14 points with five rebounds and five assists. Elizabeth Elliot also almost had a double-double with 13 points and eight boards. Pacific controlled the glass with 50 rebounds while holding Santa Clara to 29.
Santa Clara's second-half surge included a 53.1% team shooting clip. It outscored Pacific, 48-41, after halftime. The defense held the Tigers to only 33.3% shooting after they shot 52.8% in the first half.
Santa Clara heads to Saint Mary's on Saturday for a 5 p.m. tipoff. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
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