Jan. 25, 2004
Box Score
Santa Clara, CA - The Saint Mary's women's basketball team bounced back after suffering its first loss of the season on Thursday, with a 59-51 victory over Santa Clara on Sunday afternoon at the Leavey Center in Santa Clara, CA. The Gaels took care of the ball on the road with a season-low 12 turnovers and improved to 4-1 in West Coast Conference action and 12-7 on the season. The 12 wins surpasses last year's win total of 11. With the loss, Santa Clara dropped to 2-3 in WCC action and 6-12 overall.
The Gaels only turned the ball over six times in each half and ended the day shooting 35 percent from the field and 77 percent from the free throw line.
Saint Mary's also received an excellent offensive performance by freshman center Sheridan Arredondo in the victory. Arredondo recorded a career-high 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
In the game the Gaels were led by Arredondo with 17, sophomore Evynn Van Burger recorded her second consecutive double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, Monica Mertle added 11 points, Serena Benavente had seven points and Triola Jackson added six points.
The Gaels' defense also held Santa Clara to 35 percent shooting in the game and 30 percent shooting from 3-point range.
To start the second half, the Gaels opened up their eight-point lead into a quick 13-point lead after two Benavente free throws and two Triola Jackson jumpers with 17:16 left in the second half.
Saint Mary's continued its hot shooting to start the second half, as it built a 39-24 lead with 15:39 left in the game after a Benavente 3-pointer.
Santa Clara battled back and cut the Gaels' lead to 47-38 after five straight points by Tori Markey with 8:47 left in the game. The Broncos continued their hot shooting and cut the Gaels' lead to 51-48 with 4:48 left in the game. Saint Mary's Savannah Williams broke the Broncos' run to open up a 53-48 lead with 4:10 left in the game.
The Gaels added to their lead after two free throws by Arredondo to give Saint Mary's a 55-48 lead with 2:59 left in the game. After Quinn Thomas hit her sixth 3-pointer of the game, the Broncos cut the lead to 55-51 with 1:17 left in the game.
Santa Clara broke a scoreless tie nearly three minutes into the game, but the Gaels answered with five consecutive points to take a 5-2 lead with 15:38 left in the first half.
After five points by Mertle, the Gaels opened up a 12-9 lead with 11:30 remaining in the first half. Arredondo hit back-to-back baskets for the Gaels and Saint Mary's opened up its biggest lead of the first half at 16-11 with 9:49 left.
The Broncos cut into the Gaels' lead after a Thomas 3-pointer, but Van Burger answered with four points in less than a minute to open up a 20-14 lead with 6:39 on the clock.
Saint Mary's opened up a seven-point lead after an Arredondo layup with 3:27 left in the half and after a Mertle 3-pointer, the Gaels held a 27-19 lead at the break.
In the first half, the Gaels were led by Arredondo and Mertle, who each had eight points and Van Burger added seven points. The Gaels' defense also held the Broncos to 28 percent shooting in the first half and caused 10 turnovers.
