Broncos Down Rival Dons
By Ryan Mahoney
The Santa Clara Women's basketball team won their third straight West Coast Conference conference game with a 61-48 home victory over rival University of San Francisco on Saturday night in a yet another defensive battle. The Broncos had recently won close tilts against Pepperdine University (38-36) and Loyola Marymount University (58-54).
The Broncos (12-6, 4-1 WCC) were paced by Ricki Radanovich, with 15 points and 5 rebounds, and Lindsay Leo, with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Three of Radanovich's four field goal makes came from behind the arc.
Santa Clara trailed 5-0 after Alicia Scafidi's early 3-pointer. Scafidi lead the Dons offensively with 12 points. However, USF had a slow night on the offensive side of the ball, shooting only 31.6 percent from the floor.
Defense has become a hallmark of Santa Clara's style. "Our defense is fueling us," said Santa Clara Head Coach Jennifer Mountain. "We are doing a good job of taking away people."
"What we were harping on in practice was defense," said senior forward Lindsay Leo, "If we get stops, then our offense will come. Holding them to 31 percent shows how hard we were working." Leo also tallied three blocks and a steal.
Santa Clara managed to get those much needed stops, and turned an early deficit into a 10-7 lead on Nici Gilday's 3-pointer with 13:15 remaining in the first half. The score teetered back and forth in the first half, until Santa Clara pulled away late, ending the half with a 28-21 lead. The Broncos charged out of the locker room in the second half and at one point led by as many as 11 points. Though USF would cut into the lead, at one point trailing by only 6, the Bronco's team offensive effort helped keep the game out of reach for the Dons.
USF, who went 3-13 last season in the WCC and 1-13 the season before, has been a perennial doormat under Head Coach Jennifer Azzi, who took the reins in 2010.
The Broncos, however, are showing that they may indeed by a contender for the WCC crown this season, should current trends continue. The Broncos had a 5-11 mark in conference last season. Santa Clara needs to continue its solid conference play to improve seeding in the WCC tournament, and hopefully capture the program's seventh NCAA tournament bid and first since 2004-05.
The Broncos will host the other member of the three-pronged Bay Area Catholic school rivalry, Saint Mary's College, in a game on Thursday night. "Same game plan," said Leo. "We understand what they're going to try to do offensively and we're going to respond to that." The Broncos and Gaels both sit at 4-1 in the WCC, good for a tie for second place, with only Gonzaga with a better conference mark at 5-1. Saint Mary's handed Gonzaga it's only conference loss of the year.