Web update: Women's basketball falls to Gonzaga 80-71

By Cecile Nguyen

What started out as face paced game between the top two teams in the West Coast Conference turned out to be a fouled-filled contest and an 80-71 Santa Clara loss to Gonzaga.

A total of 40 fouls were called in the game. With the loss, the Broncos fall to 18-10 overall and 7-6 in the WCC. Santa Clara failed to distance themselves from San Diego and LMU, who are tied for third place with a 6-6 record in the WCC.

Gonzaga (21-7, 12-1), who clinched their fourth straight WCC regular season title last Saturday with a win over Portland, were led by Heather Bowman wit a game-high 30 points, 11 rebounds, and was an impressive 14-for-14 from the free throw line.

Free throws by guard Tracey Walker put the Broncos within four points with less than a minute to play. After a defensive stop, Santa Clara had a chance to come within two with a floater from Liz Doran but the ball refused to go down.

Walker led the team in points with 21, and had five steals, three assists and five rebounds.

Two quick fouls called against the Broncos in the waning seconds of the game put them out of reach and the Bulldogs were able to seal the victory.

The Bulldogs started the game on a roll, scoring the first seven points of the game and holding Santa Clara scoreless until a layup from Jen Gottschalk at 15:58 gave the Broncos their first points of the night.

Gottschalk finished the game with another double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Down 20-12 with 11 minutes left in the first, Head Coach Michelle Bento-Jackson called a timeout to try to spark her team offensively. It seemed to work as the Broncos responded immediately and scored six straight baskets.

At 4:58, a three from Gottschalk cut down the Broncos' deficit to two, as the Bulldogs led 30-28

Santa Clara failed to contain the Bulldogs, who led 38-30 at the break.

The Broncos began getting sloppy on defense in the second half and began racking up weak fouls. Gonzaga continue to control the game and lead 63-48 with less than 10 minutes remaining.

The Broncos refused to fall easily and a three point basketball by Gall cut Gonzaga's lead to just 75-69 with under two minutes to play.

Once again, fouls got in the way of a Bronco comeback, and The Bulldogs were able to hang on for the win. The Broncos final game of the regular season is at home Saturday against Portland.