Santa Clara Looks to Keep Up Momentum Heading into Conference Play

Broncos have everything they want in front of them

Over the winter break, the Santa Clara Broncos men’s basketball team got its star player Josip Vrankic back into the fold. After warming up against Cal and returning to game action against Boise State, the Broncos were certainly glad to have him back after losing four of their last six games without him in the starting lineup due to Mono.

The Broncos have had a problem playing against physical teams, especially those that crash the offensive boards, with the issue rearing its head against Kenneth Lofton of Louisiana Tech and Mladen Armus of Boise State.

With Vrankic’s conditioning coming into form, Santa Clara was able to rely on him to pressure big men on offense while relying on his IQ to make players uncomfortable when he was on defense. This enabled the Broncos to go on a three-game winning streak against Florida A&M, Montana, and San Jose State as they closed out non-conference play. Vrankic’s presence has clearly calmed the team down, as they seem flustered in early December, and enabled more of his teammates to step up. Other players like Carlos Stewart and Jalen Williams have continued to elevate their play, cementing their value to Coach Sendek and proving why they are deserving of big time minutes.

Heading into West Coast Conference (WCC) play, Santa Clara should be well-equipped to finish in the top half of the conference at the very least. Their first two conference games have been postponed, with the game versus Pacific called off due to Santa Clara’s health and safety protocols, while the San Diego game was called off due to USD’s health and safety protocols. The first scheduled conference game is provisionally set for Wednesday Jan. 12th at Pacific.

If that game is postponed as well, Santa Clara will open conference play with a brutal stretch of play, going against Gonzaga, St.Mary’s, BYU and San Francisco in four of their next five games. The Broncos will need inspired play from every player in order to win these games, and with four double-digit scorers, the Broncos have enough weapons to take over. Santa Clara was picked to finish sixth in the WCC preseason poll — something the Broncos won’t take lightly as they take the court each game day.

Everyone in the rotation will need to contribute in order to continue proving doubters wrong, from the star players in Vrankic and Williams to rotational players like Camaron Tounge and Giordan Williams. If the Broncos can limit their turnovers and how often their opponents get on the offensive glass, the odds of a successful season are high. Coupled with the potent complementary play of Keshawn Justice and PJ Pipes, this Broncos team should be an under-the-radar force in the WCC.

Santa Clara Women’s Basketball

The Broncos women’s basketball team has played an up-and-down season as they enter conference play, with solid winning streaks met by befuddling losing streaks. Santa Clara started off the season 4-0, winning games against respected opponents like Nevada and San Jose State, before falling to Long Beach State for their first loss of the season.

The team was able to rebound from that loss and defeat CSU Bakersfield and UC Merced before going on their first meaningful road trip of the season in the state of Kansas. Their first stop was in Lawrence where they played a spirited game against Big 12 conference opponent Kansas University. Unfortunately, the Broncos couldn’t pull out the stops for the win after only being down one point entering the 4th quarter, but nevertheless put in a good fight.

Santa Clara did end up struggling in the immediate aftermath of that Kansas game, losing in puzzling fashion to Kansas City and California Baptist, two teams that they were expected to beat. The team did rebound with a win against Holy Names, a good change of pace right before conference play begins.

Santa Clara is led by three double digit scorers: Junior Lindsey VanAllen, Senior Merle Wiehl, and Redshirt Senior Ashlyn Herlihy, all of whom average over 11 points per game. The team currently shoots 41.7% from the field and 34% from the 3-point range, which can get the job done on some nights — however, if they want to upset teams like BYU, they will look to increase their already solid 3-point shooting percentage. Santa Clara looks to upend their WCC preseason-poll prediction of 6th place, but will need to continue with a team effort in order to get it done.

Sadly, it looks like conference play will be put on pause for the time being. Santa Clara has had their first four conference games postponed due to health and safety protocols within the Bronco’s program, with games against St.Mary’s, San Francisco, Pacific, and Gonzaga all needing to be rescheduled. Their return to the court is provisionally set to be Jan. 13 at Leavey Center against Pepperdine.