Broncos Drop Two at Home
Santa Clara loses to BYU and San Diego
Jack PriceTHE SANTA CLARAJanuary 14th, 2016
The women’s basketball team’s successful season so far took a step back as they fell to both Brigham Young University and University of San Diego on Thursday and Saturday last week.
Santa Clara trampled the Cougars in the first half of Thursday’s game, but BYU came back late to beat the Broncos 68-63.
Guard Lexi Rydalch for the Cougars scored an astounding 27 points and hit five three pointers.
Kyla Martin led the Bronco scoring with 14 points, including six out of 10 free throws.
Lori Parkinson, junior forward for Santa Clara, had a stake in the game as well, with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Broncos started strong, ending the first quarter with 20 points to BYU’s 16.
By the fourth quarter they still had the lead, but due to a number of missed shots and turnovers, BYU gained momentum and finished with the win.
Saturday played out similarly for the Broncos.
The laboring game went neck and neck in a heated matchup, ultimately leaving the Torreros victorious at 70-58.
Maya Hood, one of San Diego’s consistently best players, scored 19 points and had seven rebounds.
On the other side, Santa Clara had four players each with 11 points or more and a team total of 31 rebounds.
The game was not decided until late in the second half, since the first half ended tied at 34-34.
In the third quarter, the Broncos lost their momentum and only scored seven points while the Toreros scored 20, nine of which could be credited to Hood.
Santa Clara, down 13 at the start of the fourth quarter, could not recover from the deficit.
The Broncos are hopeful for their upcoming trip to SoCal, where they play Pepperdine (5-11) Thursday and LMU (8-9) Saturday.
“What we are really focusing on is the little details like closing out and really getting back to what proved successful for us before break,” Parkinson said.
The Broncos previously went on a twelve game winning streak and are hoping to fan the same flame.
“We are trying to not let the record get to our heads and just get back to that blue collar hard working team that we are,” Parkinson said.
Contact Jack Price at jhprice@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.