Bronco Briefs: Men's hoops clip Gaels at buzzer
By Brian Betz
Men's Basketball
San Francisco 78, SCU 65
San Francisco junior guard John Cox led all scorers with a career-high 30 points as the Dons handed the Broncos their eighth conference loss last Friday. Sophomore point guard Bakari Altheimer scored 18 for the Broncos, who are now 12-12 on the season, 3-8 in West Coast Conference play.
SCU 57, Saint Mary's 56
Duplicating last month's nail-biter against the Gaels seemed improbable, but Sunday's rematch proved more exciting than the first. Down three with 6.5 seconds left, senior forward Brad Anderson scored, cutting the Gaels' lead to one. Defensive pressure forced the Gaels to call a timeout on the ensuing inbounds play.
On their second attempt, a series of dangerous passes led to a Brad Anderson steal, who passed it to his twin Cord, who laid the ball in with one second left. Saint Mary's failed to inbound the ball cleanly and the Broncos secured the conference victory. Altheimer led Santa Clara with 17, followed by freshman guard Brandon Rohe's 10. Santa Clara improved to 13-12 on the season, 4-8 in league play. Santa Clara will play Gonzaga at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Leavey Center.
Men's Tennis
Boise St. 6, SCU 1
Sophomore Francisco Zepponi was the only successful Bronco this past Friday, as he won his No. 2 singles match in straight sets while teaming with junior Erich Chen to win at No.1 doubles 8-6. The tandem defeated Boise St.'s nationally ranked pair of Marcu Berntson and Guillaume Bouvier. The loss drops the Broncos to 4-5 on the season.
New Mexico 6, SCU 1
The Broncos were swept in singles competition, but not before Chen/Zepponi and Taylor Bedilion/Federico Mattioli won No. 1 and No. 3 doubles, respectively, to secure the doubles point and avoid any possibility of a sweep. Santa Clara comes home Thursday to host San Francisco at the Santa Clara Tennis Center.
Women's Basketball
San Francisco 69, SCU 67
The Dons, who had not won on the Broncos' home court since 1997, overcame an 11-point deficit in the final minutes of last Thursday's contest to get the road win. San Francisco's Carey Sauer scored a game-high 27 points, while the Dons shot 57 percent from the field as a team. Sophomore guard Kayla Huss led the Broncos with 15, while senior forward Tammy Annas, sophomore guard Quinn Thomas and sophomore forward Kim Butler chipped in 14, 13 and 11, respectively.
SCU 73, Saint Mary's 68
Five Broncos finished in double figures in Saturday afternoon's win over the Gaels on Senior Day. Fittingly, three of those five were seniors as Annas and senior forwards Julie Butler and Kendra Rhea all dropped in 12, while Huss and junior guard Whitney Sutak both scored 12 as well. Rhea's 12 rebounds contributed to her double-double, as the women improve to 17-8 overall, 8-4 in league play. The Broncos conclude their WCC schedule on the road this week at Portland and Gonzaga before the conference tournament tips off on March 6.
Softball
SCU 5, San Jose St. 0
Junior pitcher Jaime Forman-Lau threw a complete game shutout last Thursday, allowing just two hits while striking out six in the win. Lau improved her record to 7-4 on the season. Senior first baseman Tracie Hall went 1-2 at the plate, with two RBI.
SCU 6, San Jose St. 2
The Spartans jumped out to a one-run lead after the top of the first, but the Broncos answered with two of their own in the bottom half of the inning to go up 2-1. The Broncos added two more in the fourth and then two more in the sixth before freshman Kelley Johnson entered in the seventh to relieve freshman starter Liz Courtier.
Both junior catcher Rachel Sherman and freshman infielder Shannon Linerud went 2-for-3 from the plate, while Courtier picked up the win, scattering two runs over sixth innings. Santa Clara, who improves to 9-8 on the season, travels to Fresno St. this Saturday for a doubleheader against the Bulldogs.
Baseball
UC-Santa Barbara 5, SCU 1
In Friday's three-game series opener, the Broncos out hit the Gauchos but only posted one run, off a home run by senior second baseman A.J. LaBarbera in the first inning. Santa Clara senior starter Matt Travis went the distance in the loss, giving up five runs on eight hits with four strikeouts.
SCU 13, UC-Santa Barbara 6
Santa Clara evened the series on Saturday, exploding out of the gates with a seven-run first inning highlighted by home runs from sophomore first baseman Will Thompson and freshman shortstop Michael Thompson. The Broncos tacked on three more in the second, on back-to-back-to-back doubles from senior catcher Jim Wallace and both Thompsons.
Senior pitcher/outfielder Joe Diefenderfer was terrific after freshman starter Andrew Slorp exited in the second, as Diefenderfer pitched six-plus innings while allowing just one run and fanning seven. Will Thompson was the story on the day, finishing with a grand slam, two doubles, one triple and six RBI.
UC-Santa Barbara 5, SCU 4
After three hours and 50 minutes of play and 10 innings, Santa Barbara's Brian Adams singled home the winning run in the bottom of the tenth to give the Gauchos the win and the series. Saturday's hero, Will Thompson, went 3-for-4 with a monster home run in the sixth inning that tied the game at three. Santa Barbara answered in the seventh with a sacrifice fly to put them ahead, before Santa Clara fought back in the eighth with a Michael Thompson fielder's choice that scored Wallace.
Later in the inning, Diefenderfer was hit by a pitch that would have scored the go-ahead run, but the umpire ruled that Diefenderfer did not make an effort to get out of the way. The inning ended on a 6-3 double play, and the Gauchos eventually won it in extras.
Women's Tennis
D II No. 1 BYU-Hawaii 7, SCU 2
The Broncos fell to the top-ranked Seasiders this past Friday, dropping their overall record to 3-4 on the year. Freshman Casey Knutson was the only Bronco victorious in singles competition, as she won at No. 5 singles, 6-4, 6-1.
San Diego St. 6, SCU 1
Saturday did not fare much better for the women, who were swept by the 27th Aztecs in doubles action and all but one singles match. Freshman Catherine Cochrane defeated her opponent in three sets at No. 3 singles to secure a point and avoid the sweep.
SCU 4, Hawaii 3
After two disappointing losses to start the weekend, the women closed out their trip in the Hawaiian islands with a clutch victory to improve their record to 4-5 on the season. Santa Clara won two of three doubles matches to win the doubles point and then proceeded to get singles wins from sophomore Janalle Kaloi, freshman Casey Knutson and senior Pati Ruiz. This gave the Broncos three more points to preserve the match victory. Saturday will mark the start of a four-match homestand for the Broncos, beginning with Saint Mary's.
Women's Water Polo
Davis Shootout
No. 15 UC-Davis 15, SCU 3
The Aggies ended the first half up 7-1 and never looked back, as the Broncos moved to 4-4 after the loss in the tourney opener. Brittany Russell led Davis with her four goals, while freshman Kathleen Hamm, sophomore Katy Shumm and senior Becky Hong accounted for Santa Clara's three scores.
Hartwick 11, SCU 3
Much like Saturday's match, the Broncos fell behind 6-1 at half on Sunday and were never able to come back. Hong paced the Broncos with two goals, while junior netminders Alexandra Dalmau and Anne Ginotti combined for seven saves in the loss.
CS Bakersfield 6, SCU 5 (OT)
For the second time in two weeks, the Broncos lost to the Roadrunners in overtime after giving up a goal with 35 seconds left in regulation that sent the match into extra time. Bakersfield scored on its first possession in the second overtime to seal the tournament win. Freshman Alanna Simpkins led Santa Clara with two goals, while senior Elizabeth Glotzbach and Hong each netted one.
SCU 7, UC-Santa Cruz 6
The Broncos concluded the Davis Shootout with a win over the sixth-ranked Slugs, giving them a seventh place finish on the weekend. The win came after a 9-8 morning loss to Pacific, in which Hong led all scorers with three goals.
Senior Kelley Mays netted three goals of her own against the Slugs, while sophomore Amanda Ginn scored the game-winner with 1:51 left in the contest. The Broncos return to the Leavey Pool on Sunday with matches against Villanova and CS Hayward.