Women’s Basketball Washes Away Competition
Attention: there is another good team playing in the Leavey Center! Another strong campaign abounds for Santa Clara Women’s Basketball in 2024. The team has marched to an impressive 12-3 start entering conference play, their most wins during non-league play since the 1990-91 season.
Source: SCU Athletics
With an undefeated 7-0 home record so far this season, the Broncos also took down two Pac 12 opponents, University of Oregon and Arizona State, on the road. But this team wants to accomplish so much more under eighth-year Head Coach Bill Carr, and they certainly have the tools to get it done.
Santa Clara’s season has had stretches of dominant performances on the court. Before Thanksgiving, the Broncos stampeded into Eugene and blew out the previously undefeated Ducks. With a final score of 89-50–a 39-point margin–the Broncos picked up their first win over Oregon in twenty years.
Despite that, it has not been easy in their opening stretch of West Coast Conference (WCC) play, as the Broncos have struggled with consistent secondary scoring and have dropped a couple games they wish they could have back. The Broncos have some tests on the horizon, as they will face Gonzaga, Portland and USF, who they will need to defeat in order to have a shot at the WCC title and the NCAA Tournament.
The highlight of this season has been guard Tess Heal. The sensational sophomore has won three WCC Player of the Week awards and was named on Jan. 17 as one of 15 players on the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Midseason Watchlist.
Heal is shooting 42.6% from the field and 41.5% downtown; is second for free throws in the country with a total of 99 scored this season and shoots from the charity stripe at 90.8% clip. She is also nearing the 1,000 point mark in just her second season at Santa Clara, an achievement only 27 players have accomplished as a Bronco. Her current average of 17.7 points per game, if maintained, would rank second in Santa Clara history.
Alongside Heal, there have been significant contributions from players such as Olivia Pollerd and Marya Hudgins, who have a combined average of 23.4 points per game, scoring at 38% and 35% from the three point line respectively. If the Broncos want to make it to March Madness, they’ll need to maintain their ability to consistently make three-pointers in order to build on their successful season.