Web update: Santa Clara wrangles Saint Mary's

By Cecile Nguyen

For the first time in 20 years, the Santa Clara women's basketball team entered the West Coast Conference Tournament as the lowest seed in the conference this weekend.

But the no. 8 Broncos (3-26, 1-13 WCC) earned a win when it mattered most, upsetting no. 5 Saint Mary's 82-55 in the opening game of 2009 WCC Tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Santa Clara won only one WCC game in the regular season, a 51-46 victory over USF on Feb. 21.

"We knew going into this weekend that this was it," senior Sara Majors said. "All the pressure was on everybody else basically."Santa Clara's 82 points are a season-high.

"It was a well deserved victory for our kids who have battled so hard all year long and have been close in many opportunities," first-year head coach Jennifer Mountain said. "Finally to put one together and show not only the people in the stands but prove to ourselves more that we can do this, that we can compete. I was really proud of our efforts today."

The victory was a role reversal of sorts for the Broncos, who committed only nine turnovers while forcing Saint Mary's to cough it up 17 times.

"If we take care of the ball then good things happen," Mountain said. "I really think it was an effort where everybody just fell into place. We did what we needed to do and we didn't try to get out of character and try to make too many things happen. We stayed within our game plan. We hit shots today, we rebounded and defended and that's why we won the game. The nine turnovers are a blessing."

The Gaels (11-18, 7-7 WCC) were led by WCC Defensive Player of the Year Louella Tomlinson, who collected game-high 21 points, seven rebounds and seven blocks. Saint Mary's leads the conference with 7.03 average blocks per game and had eight blocks today.

Santa Clara had five players score in double figures with Lena Gipson leading the way with a team-high 19 points and 10 rebounds.

The Broncos built a 10-point lead early in the game thanks to 10 Saint Mary's turnovers accounting for 14 fast break points. Majors led the Broncos with eight points and was 3-for-3 shooting from the field during their 24-13 run to open the game.

Mountain said that all the seniors contributed to today's win, but Sara Majors especially, even with her injury, played a big role both on the offensive and defensive ends.

"Sara's been battling Achilles problem for the last month and a half and hasn't practiced for the last two days," said Mountain. "For her to come out and perform the way she did when she could barely walk was huge."

Majors scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and collected four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Down by 13 points with eight-plus minutes remaining in the first half, the Gaels went on a 21-8 run to cut their deficit.

Katie Batlin's basket with 1:36 left put Saint Mary's up for the first time all game as they led 36-34 after she also made her free throw. Broncos' Clare Goins layup tied up the score again but Saint Mary's had the last possession of the half.

However, Maija Lahde's mid-range jumper attempt was waved off by the refs as she didn't shoot the ball before the buzzer.

"We have done a nice job of starting out games but we just haven't had the firepower to finish for 40 minutes which we did today," Mountain said. "That's what we talked about at halftime. We have 20 minutes left on our season and it's whoever wants it more and whoever's going to play the hardest. It's 0-0 basically and let's get this thing going."

Santa Clara shot an impressive 50 percent (16-for-32) from the field in the first stanza only to be outdone by the Gaels' 63.2 percent (12-for-19). Santa Clara finished shooting 54 percent (34-for-63) for the game.

The Broncos defense got back to work in the second half, holding Saint Mary's scoreless in the first three minutes to start the second half while scoring four quick points themselves.

"We knew we had to come out strong and aggressive just like we had the first half," forward Lena Gipson said. "It was 0-0 and we play well when it's 0-0. We always start off doing well. So we just had to keep in mind and maintain that throughout the entire second half."

Saint Mary's Tomlinson single-handedly kept the Gaels within striking distances, accumulating six points on three consecutive layups as the Broncos continued to lead 50-47 with less than 13 minutes left in the game.

"During a timeout we were talking and we kind of went through the battle of Lena versus Louella and I misspoke and said, 'I pick her (Louella) over you,' which was not what I meant by any means," Mountain said. "Lena knew that and she went out to proceed to score us eight straight points. If that's what I need to say every game then we'll put her up for trade. Lena's done a nice job and she made a huge adjustment and quite frankly, just took over the game in that later part of the second half."

A bucket from Gipson extended the Broncos' lead to 58-48 with 8:55 remaining in the game and fueled a 12-4 Santa Clara run to extend their lead to 70-52 with just under four minutes left and held on to win only their fourth game all year and their second victory in conference play.

Santa Clara advances to the quarterfinal game and will play no. 4 Loyola Marymount on Saturday, March 7 at noon.