SANTA CLARA, Calif. — There wasn't much left for Tess Heal to accomplish entering the few remaining weeks of what has been an impressive debut 2022-23 season.
She had already collected 10 West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week awards, nine 20-point games, scored the second-most points among all freshmen in the nation…
So Thursday… she decided to do a bit more.
Heal scored the second-most points ever in a game by a Santa Clara University women's basketball player, pouring in 39 against fourth-place BYU, as the Cougars held off a late charge by Heal and the Broncos to earn a 78-72 WCC victory at Leavey Center.
Listen to head @coachbillcarr's postgame comments following the Broncos' battle with BYU! ��#StampedeTogether | #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/hGLs7WnBL7
— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) February 17, 2023
Heal fell one point short of the school record 40 point scored by Nici Gilday nearly a decade ago – on Feb. 27, 2014, against LMU. She tied the 39-point mark set by Dorinda Lindstrom, who scored that many at Fresno State more than 36 years ago on Nov. 30, 1986.
The 10-time WCC Freshman of the Week went a perfect 15-for-15 from the free-throw line, becoming only the 13th Bronco to go perfect from the line in a game with at least 10 attempts. Her 15 made free-throws were also tied for third-most all-time in a game, only two short of the record (17).
Q4, 0:12 | @byuwbb 76, #Broncos 72
— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) February 17, 2023
Tess Heal with a 3️⃣ pointer!
Tess Heal with a season-high of 39 points. #StampedeTogether | #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/J85SyHIkjr
Santa Clara (14-14, 5-10 WCC) shot 88.0% from the free-throw line as a team. The Broncos have shown marked improvement at the charity stripe since rolling over the calendar to 2023. After only having five games through December of shooting free throws at an 80% clip or better, the team has had 10 such games since the start of January – including six of their last seven.
Free throws ended up being key not only for Heal, but for both teams.
Six of Santa Clara's first eight points of the game were scored on free throws, including four from Heal in the first 104 seconds of the evening.
BYU (14-12, 9-6 WCC) was only 3 for 6 from the line through the game's first three quarters. The Cougars weren't getting to the line nearly as often as the Broncos, who had made more than twice the amount of free throws that BYU had attempted up to that point. And when they were at the line, they weren't converting (50.0% through three quarters).
But when Santa Clara went on a 6-0 run late in the fourth quarter to pull within three points at 64-61, that's when BYU almost couldn't miss.
BYU went 10 for 12 (83.3%) from the free-throw line in the game's final 65 seconds. It went 12 for 14 (85.7%) overall in the fourth quarter – making twice as many free throws as it had attempted all game entering the last period.
Santa Clara scored its most points of the game in the fourth quarter – 23 – to make its final push, but it also allowed BYU its most, 33. The Cougars shot 50.0% in the game and outrebounded the Broncos, 34-26. It was the fifth game in a row a Santa Clara opponent shot over 42% and outrebounded the Broncos.
Marya Hudgins added eight points, five rebounds and an assist. Lara Edmanson scored seven, pulled down three boards and grabbed a steal. BYU had three double-figure performances, led by Lauren Gustin's 24th double-double of the season with 30 points and 16 rebounds. Nani Falatea scored 19 points and had six assists. Kaylee Smiler scored 10 points with four rebounds, three assists and two blocks. The Cougars had 21 assists on 28 of their made baskets.
Q3 8:27 | #Broncos 35, @byuwbb 35
— Santa Clara Women's Basketball (@Santaclarawbb) February 17, 2023
Another 3️⃣pointer from Olivia Pollerd ties the game!#StampedeTogether | #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/DmmtCKQzIo
As for Heal, her 11 made baskets on Thursday gave her 180 field goals for the season and tied her for 10th all-time in a single season at Santa Clara. She sits in reach of multiple other Santa Clara top-10 single season lists with at least four games to go (three regular season, minimum one at the WCC Championship Tournament). She has 494 total points on the year – six away from 500 and 10th all-time in a single season. Her new 17.6 points per game average would rank 10th all-time in a single season, she's 17 assists away from 10th all-time, and she's three made free-throws away from 10th place in a single season.
Olivia Pollerd is also within reach of a single-season top-10 list. Her 35th block of the season Thursday put her one more away from tying for 10th all-time. Ashley Hiraki needs 19 more steals to reach 10th all-time in a single season at Santa Clara.
The Broncos will celebrate Senior Day at 2 p.m. Saturday when they host third-place San Diego. Five Broncos will be honored in a pregame ceremony. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.
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