Broncos beat USF in double OT
By Joe Doss-Antoun
The Santa Clara women squared off against the San Francisco Dons Saturday night in a West Coast Conference meeting that turned out to be one of the more thrilling games the Leavey Center has witnessed recently.
After suffering a 19-point home loss to San Diego just two nights before, the Broncos seemed poised to end their home stand on a positive note, and did so, defeating the Dons 89-83 in double overtime.
While the Broncos have been known for their powerful offensive attack, it was their defense that allowed them to run out to a comfortable lead early in the game. Eleven first half Dons turnovers led to easy offense, and the WCC's leading offense was able to jump out to a 35-28 lead at the half.
After committing 14 turnovers in the first half, the Broncos appeared focused on protecting the ball during the second half.
"Our turnovers were very sloppy and unforced, so what I really wanted them to do was value the ball and value every possession," said head coach Michelle Bento-Jackson.
Though Santa Clara was able to hold a double-digit lead in the second half, the Dons wouldn't go away. Down 47-35 with just under ten minutes left to play, the Dons connected on seven straight field goals - including a 3-pointer by Randi Richardson- that gave them a three-point edge with three minutes left in regulation.
The Broncos had to rely on their unheralded defense to bail them out. With only 50 seconds remaining in the second half, junior guard Tracey Walker stole the ball and immediately turned it up court to assist junior Jen Gottschalk on an easy lay-up to cut USF's lead to one.
"Our defense was huge," said Cronk. "Tracey had a couple of huge steals, and it was really our defense that kept us going."
On the next possession, the Broncos immediately fouled San Francisco's Lisa Olden to send her to the line for two free throws. After making her first free throw, Olden was unable to connect on her second attempt, allowing Walker to race down the court for the game-tying lay-up.
Despite the Dons leading for most of the first overtime period, it was Walker who seemed to dominate the floor. With the Broncos trailing by five with 50 seconds remaining, Walker managed to evade defenders and hit a lay-up to cut the lead to three. On the ensuing Dons possession, great team defense and a physical rebound by Walker with 17 seconds left created an opportunity for the Broncos to tie the game.
"Our defense was a major factor tonight; every stop that we got was crucial, and that's what helped carry us to the win," said Walker.
Controlling the ball with nine seconds left, Walker rotated the ball to an open Anna Martin who was able to connect for a wide open three-point shot to send the game into a second overtime.
Though the nation's best three-point shooting team was only able to connect on four of 18 shots behind the arc through the first overtime, Santa Clara finally began to find their stroke from deep range. In particular, the nation's leader in three-point field goals, Chandice Cronk, went three for three from beyond the arc and totaled 16 points in the final overtime.
"In the second overtime, not only was she making big shots, but she was doing a phenomenal job of running her defender off her screens," said Bento-Jackson of Cronk's performance. "And when she has any kind of room to shoot at all, we're pretty confident her shots will go."
Cronk's fire proved to be too strong for the Dons to put out, as the Broncos ran away with the victory. In addition to Cronk's career-high 30 points, Jen Gottschalk added 19, while Walker added 13.
Currently tied for third in the conference, Santa Clara (11-9, 3-2) will go on the road to southern California this week to face Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount.
Contact Joe Doss-Antoun at (408) 551-1918 or jdossantoun@scu.edu.