Inside the Herd 12/12/2025

(Nina Glick/The Santa Clara)

Women’s Cross CountryTrack — Dec. 6: Sharon Colyear-Danville Invitational

The Broncos opened the 2025-26 season in Boston on Saturday at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener, hosted by Boston University. Their efforts were led by Milaina Almonte ’27, who ran the second-fastest 5,000-meter race in school history, posting a time of 16:25.89. 

This was a personal best for Almonte, beating her previous record by over 25 seconds. 

Next Up: Spokane Sports Showcase, Friday, Jan. 16

Men’s Basketball — Dec. 6: Santa Clara 71, New Mexico 98 

After an impressive win vs. Utah Tech earlier in the week, the Broncos (8-2) traveled to Albuquerque to face New Mexico (7-2) on Saturday, where they ultimately fell short 71-98. A rough first half of fouls and turnovers let the Lobos jump on top early, holding an 18-point lead and never looking back. 

The Broncos were unable to score consistently in the first half, going just 4-for-21 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes. They chipped away at the lead, however, heading into the locker room down nine points at the half. New Mexico’s stout offense proved too much in the second half. Christian Hammond ’28 notched his third 20-point effort for the Broncos this season, while Elijah Mahi ’26, KJ Cochran ’29 and Allen Graves ’29 all reached double-digit points. 

Graves was named WCC Freshman of the Week, highlighted by his posterizing dunk against Utah Tech on Dec. 3 that went viral on social media. 

Next Up: vs. Arizona State, Jack Jones Classic, Saturday, Dec. 13, 4 p.m.

Upcoming holiday break games: 

vs. North Texas, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 6:00 p.m.

vs. Loyola Chicago, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2:00 p.m. 

at Oregon State, Sunday, Dec. 28, 3:00 p.m.

at Portland, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 7:00 p.m.

vs. Pepperdine, Friday, Jan. 2, 7:00 p.m.

vs. San Diego, Sunday, Jan. 4, 4:00 p.m.

Women’s Basketball — Dec. 6: Santa Clara 125, Simpson 43 

Santa Clara women’s basketball (8-3) set a program record for points in a game in Saturday’s decisive defeat of Simpson (4-2). Shooting 47.3% from the field and going 24-of-29 from the free throw line helped the Broncos go on some serious scoring runs, especially in the first half. 

Three Broncos had double-doubles: Maia Jones ’26 (22 points, 13 rebounds), Delainey Miller ’29 (15 points, 13 rebounds), and Tyler Gildersleeve-Stiles ’29 (15 points, 10 rebounds). Kylee Fox ’27 added another 20 points. To show you how much of a one sided affair this truly was: the Santa Clara bench outscored Simpson’s, 50-6. The Broncos look to carry this momentum into the holiday break, where they will face some much tougher conference competition.

Next Up: at Grand Canyon University, Sunday, Dec. 14, 12:00 pm

Upcoming holiday break games: 

at North Texas, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2:00 p.m.

vs. San Diego, Sunday, Dec. 28, 1:00 p.m.

vs. Seattle, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 6:00 p.m.

at LMU, Friday, Jan. 2, 6:00 p.m.

vs. Gonzaga, Sunday, Jan. 4, 12:00 p.m.