Women’s Basketball Makes History

A season of historic firsts for Santa Clara women’s basketball came to a close on March 24 when they lost to Washington State in the second round of the inaugural women’s basketball invitation tournament (WBIT). 

Photo source: SCU WBB Media Relations

“I think women's sports in general are having a boom, which is super fun,” said graduate forward Danja Stafford Collins. “It's kind of fun to get to be like, I was a part of that era. I got to be part of those groundbreaking moments and things like that. Being a part of the inaugural WBIT is crazy.”

The Broncos had the second-most wins in program history with 25, trailing only the 1990-91 team who had 28 wins and won the women’s national invitation tournament (WNIT) that year. 

Sophomore guard Tess Heal finished the season with 663 points, the most in a single season in program history. Heal and junior forward Olivia Pollerd combined for the most points by tandem in team history with 1,222. 

This season’s success was built on a combination of experienced players and Heal, a sophomore, as the star. 

“Honestly, I think we had a big chip on our shoulder from last year,” said Stafford Collins. “Just because we've always been pretty talented but this year we had all the right pieces, everything kind of clicked. Last year, I think we had a lot of the right pieces, but just couldn't put it all together. This year, I don't know what it was, but the stars all aligned and it was just perfect.”

Stafford Collins is one of the aforementioned experienced players. This season was her fourth in the program, and with that tenure has come a wealth of knowledge despite incurring several injuries. 

This was the inaugural year for the WBIT, which is similar to the men’s national invitational tournament, both run by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Previously there have been the WNIT and the women’s basketball invitational (WBI) but these are “pay-to-play” events. Teams participating in these must finance their postseason run to the event sponsor in addition to travel costs. On the other hand, the WBIT provides funded travel opportunities to 32 teams for postseason play outside of the D1 tournament. 

The NCAA funding for the tournament is more evidence of the growth and development of the women’s game, something we saw this season with more people watching the final of their D1 tournament than the men’s. 

“I think there's more girls interested in women's basketball in general,” said Stafford Collins “Hopefully, that brings in a lot of good players to say that they want to be part of all of it.”. 

Despite the team’s postseason success, next year will be a whole different ball game. There are seniors and graduate students who are out of eligibility. Others are simply choosing to move on. Heal has entered the portal with no word on where she will end up next year. 

“I think it is a bittersweet parting with Tess.,” said Stafford Collins “But I think sometimes the portal can't tell you everything. People are leaving not because necessarily they feel jaded or upset, or they don't think that this program has a future. It's more that it's time to grow and try something new.”

Stafford Collins is part of this movement of players next year. She will not be at Santa Clara. After four years in the program, she will be moving back home to Utah with her husband to be closer to her family. 

“There might be some times when the pieces will feel missed–like the people that have been here,” said Stafford Collins. “But I will forever be a Bronco fan and a women’s basketball fan…”