Women's Basketball Splits Two
By Henry Gula
The Santa Clara women's basketball team split two conference home games this past week and has positioned themselves for a favorable place in the West Coast Conference Tournament coming up next week.
The Broncos fell to the conference leading Gonzaga University Bulldogs 70-55 last Thursday. The game was televised nationally on NBC Sports Network and was the first time the team had ever played in front of a national audience.
Despite the loss, the Broncos had strong performances from center Ruta Zurauskyte and guard Meagan Fulps.
Zurauskyte scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, good for her fifth double-double of the season. Fulps added 15, including four of six from 3-point territory.
"It's her senior year and she has been struggling to shoot the ball, but she just played relaxed tonight as far as shooting the ball from outside," fifth-year Head Coach Jennifer Mountain said of Fulps. "She has worked a lot in the past few days, trying to get herself in rhythm."
The Broncos played tough against the Bulldogs throughout the game, pulling as close as 24-29 near the end of the first half and then 40-46 midway through the second. Ultimately they could never catch Gonzaga.
On Saturday the Broncos fared much better, downing the visiting Pepperdine University Waves 64-52.
Fulps again stepped up for the Broncos, leading the team in scoring with 23 points and a tie for her career high with five 3-pointers.
"We had a good combination of inside and outside presence," said Mountain. "Meagan (Fulps) was tremendous in the first half and in the last two games has really stepped up her offensive play."
The Broncos had a healthy 54-34 lead with about six minutes to go before the Waves made it close with a run of 8-0 and then 6-0 before the Broncos were able to stop them and seal the victory.
"Take away the last six minutes and I thought we played pretty well today," said Mountain.
Zurauskyte again had a productive day, scoring 16 and leading the team with eight rebounds.
"This game also gives us a little bit of confidence in (the next) two games we can be very competitive in and I think we're going to play well," said Mountain.
The Broncos now sit at 14-13 overall and 6-8 in conference. They're currently in possession of fifth place, one game ahead of the University of Portland Pilots.
They will close their regular season with a game at fourth-place Saint Mary's College on Thursday night and then will be back at home against second-place University of San Diego on Saturday before advancing to the conference tournament in Las Vegas.