Web update: Women fall in semis to San Diego 72-66

By Cecile Nguyen

The Santa Clara women's basketball team rallied again in their semifinal match against San Diego, but they ultimately lost to the Toreros 72-66 and were eliminated from the West Coast Conference Tournament.

The Broncos, one of the best three-point shooting teams in the conference, needed just one three to tie things up late, but in the end couldn't get the shot off after a nice block from USD's Morgan Henderson.

"It's disappointing," Jen Gottschalk said teary-eyed during the press conference. "We really thought it was going to go the other way. I'm proud of this team. This is a great group to be a part of."

Strong play from Tracey Walker and two threes by Liz Doran accounted for Santa Clara's early 13-9 lead just five minutes into the game.

Walker had a game-high 25 points on 9-for-24 shooting from the field and 5-for-9 from the three point line. She also scored her 1,000th career point in the game.

"Tracey Walker put the game on her back," Head Coach Michelle Bento-Jackson said.

The Toreros fought back to make it a one-point game as the teams began trading baskets for the next few possessions, until an offensive rebound after a missed three and led to an easy lay in for Kiva Herman, who giving San Diego their first lead since a free throw basket to open the game.

After back-to-back turnovers from the Broncos and another jumper from Herman after she knocked two Bronco defenders out of the way, she fueled a 13-2 run by USD to extend their lead to 33-24 with less than four minutes left in the first half.

Herman who hurt herself in USD's previous game, had a team-high 23 points, nine rebounds, and two assists.

Forward Sara Majors' layup and put the Broncos down 41-33 at the half.

Majors finished the game with 12 points, two rebounds, and three assists

"We didn't' play well in the first half and we made a few adjustments at the half," Bento-Jackson said. "Our offense wasn't there and we had errors on defense.

The Broncos started the second half on a roll going on 9-2 run to cut the Toreros lead to just 43-42, forcing USD Head Coach Cindy Fisher to call a timeout.

Torero senior Amanda Rego, the WCC Co-Player of the Year, stepped around a defender to go in for an open layup, capping a San Diego run that gave them a 52-44 lead.

Rego was held to just six points in the first half before finishing the game with 10 points, six rebounds, and eight assists.

Nearly three scoreless minutes went by before back-to-back threes from Walker jump started things again for Santa Clara, tying the score at 59 with about five minutes left in the game.

The Broncos stopped San Diego on the next possession and a fancy spin move from Gottschalk down low gave SCU the 61-59 lead with 4:28 to play.

The Toreros' Amber Sprague answered immediately with a layup of her own and the game was tied up once more.

A shot clock beater from Walker from behind the three-point line game the Broncos the 64-61 lead with 1:02 to play.

Another layup from Sprague put San Diego ahead 67-66 with less than a minute left in the game. Santa Clara had the chance to take the lead but a costly turnover from Majors gave the Toreros the ball, and they extended their lead to three.

With 13.2 seconds left and down 69-66, Broncos' Liz Doran three-point attempt was blocked by Henderson and Sprague collected the rebound before being fouled, ending the Broncos chances of moving onto the WCC final tomorrow.