Bronco Basketball: The Midseason Assessment

Santa Clara’s men’s and women’s basketball teams defied expectations this December and look towards the postseason

Men’s Basketball

The Santa Clara Men’s basketball team faced uncertainty coming into this season after a significant amount of roster turnover. Their record stood impressively at 8-2 before winter break just as their schedule began to ramp up with seven straight home games from December 10 to December 31.
A loss against San José State on Dec. 10 was a poor start to their grueling homestand, and the 78-75 win over Portland State on Dec. 13 didn’t kickstart momentum like one would’ve hoped.

Then came a big test: UC Irvine. After losing at home to UCI last season, the Broncos stampeded to an 86-74 victory on Dec. 15 with a flurry of second-half baskets. Using this momentum, Santa Clara was victorious over the Cal Bears, who, despite having an 0-11 record at that point, kept our team on their toes until the final buzzer. Couple that with a win over the Boise State squad that outmuscled them last year, and the holiday season was jolly for the Broncos. 

Despite rebuilding the team, Santa Clara defied expectations and continued to dominate on the court. 

After a week off for the holidays, they returned with their conference opener against the USF Dons. The environment was electric in this back and forth affair, and the double figure scoring from all five Santa Clara starters brought a 79-67 victory in the Battle of the Bay. 

St. Mary’s frustrated the Broncos with smothering defense, and the Gaels earned a 67-64 victory. At this point, netting a win at Pepperdine was crucial – and they did just that, defeating the Waves in an offensive barnburner. 

Outside of an ugly second half against San José State, these Broncos have met every opponent with great movement on offense and timely turnovers in the clutch. Parker Braun and Jaden Bediako have become more consistent in the post, and Camaron Tongue has provided exceptional hustle and energy off the bench. 

The team continues to push forward even in the absence of Carlos Marshall Jr. and Giordan Williams, who are out for the foreseeable future with injuries. 

This Santa Clara team has shown doubters that there is more than meets the eye with their 14-5 record, and conversation has already begun to shift into which postseason tournament they will fight to be in. 

Women’s Basketball

Much like the men’s team, Santa Clara Women’s Basketball has faced a lot of skeptics this season – and silenced most of them so far, even with a recent rut in play. 

The Broncos started out the season 10-5, with back-to-back wins in Las Vegas against South Dakota and the University of Washington. They even went up to Palo Alto and hung with #2 Stanford for the entire game, frustrating legendary Stanford head coach Tara Vanderveer and forcing some quick Cardinal adjustments as they stood on upset alert but fell late 82-69.

Tess Heal has been a rising star for Santa Clara. She’s won six WCC Freshman of the Week awards during the season, and is expected to bring home the WCC Freshman of the Year award. Olivia Pollerd has looked great as a stretch forward, Lara Edmanson has provided much-needed physicality in the post and the returns of Ashlee Maldonado and Lexie Pritchard have provided renewed depth after so much talent graduated after last season.

A 10-5 start without Lindsay VanAllen, Merle Wiehl or Lana Hollingsworth who all graduated? That’s quite a rebuilding period so far. They need to right the ship after four straight losses and now sit at 10-9, but what needs to be done is clear.

The Broncos seem to have their formula and look to continue executing in the homestretch to earn a first round bye in the WCC tournament.