MORAGA, Calif. - Entering Saturday's game against Santa Clara Saint Mary's was a perfect 3-0 in overtime this season but the Broncos would return the favor and come from behind to take down the Gaels 74-67 in overtime and end their three-game winning streak.
Saint Mary's was up by as many as seven points in the fourth quarter but were held scoreless over the final two and a half minutes of regulation allowing the Broncos to go on a 7-0 run and tie the game with six seconds remaining. They went on to outscore the Gaels 13-6 in the overtime period and were a perfect 4-4 from the field and 5-6 from the charity stripe.
Maia Jones recorded her second straight 20-point game with a game high 23 points while
Kennedy Johnson and
Abigail Shoff combined for 25 on the night.
FIRST HALF SMC 25-23 SCU
Saint Mary's started the game off on a 7-2 run including an opening three pointer from sophomore guard
Maia Jones. Defensively, the Gaels held Santa Clara to just 1-of-3 shooting and forced three turnovers in the opening four minutes of the game. The Gaels hit a cold streak though under the five-minute mark and as a result, the Broncos went on a 12-2 scoring run to take a 14-9 lead late in the first.
Free throws from
Maia Jones and
Melesungu Afeaki would help close the gap in the final minute as Santa Clara took a 15-13 lead heading into the second. After shooting just 31% in the opening period Saint Mary's would find more of a groove offensively and shoot 40% from the field to take a two-point lead at the half.
Maia Jones led all players with nine points but the Gaels got good production from their entire lineup as seven different players had at least two points at the half. Santa Clara was just 3-of-11 from the field but hit a pair of three pointers to keep themselves within striking distance while Saint Mary's was 1-for-12 from beyond the arc in the first half.
REGULATION SMC 61-61 SCU
The Gaels had their best offensive quarter of the night in the third, finishing 7-of-13 from the field and connecting on just their second three pointer of the game. Jones scored the first seven points for Saint Mary's and her three pointer in transition gave Saint Mary's a seven-point lead just three minutes in. On the next possession,
Abigail Shoff would rip the ball away from
Hannah Rapp and spring
Kennedy Johnson for the fast break layup, forcing a quick timeout from Broncos head coach Michael Floyd.
Saint Mary's took an eight-point lead twice in the third quarter but Santa Clara would continue to fight and go on an 11-4 scoring run to end the quarter, including three clutch free throws from a foul on a three-point attempt with just three seconds remaining. In the blink of an eye, the Gaels held just a 42-41 lead heading into the fourth.
After going just 2-of-16 from three in the first three quarters the Gaels would start to find the hot hand and connect on back-to-back three's from
Maia Jones and
Zeryhia Aokuso to take a four-point lead. Saint Mary's led by as many as seven with two minutes to play but struggled to break the double digit barrier all night and as a result, left the door open for a late surge from Santa Clara.
The Broncos would storm back and hit four three pointers in the final ten minutes of regulation to cut the deficit to just four points with a little over two minutes remaining. Saint Mary's caught a dry spell and were held scoreless over the final two minutes and were a combined 0-for-4 from the field. Still up two with 34 seconds on the clock and possession of the ball, the Gaels would cough it up as the Broncos forced a huge turnover to retake possession and call timeout with now 17 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing possession, Malia Latu would drive down the lane and convert a tough solo layup to tie the game at 61 with seven seconds remaining.
Jeff Cammon would call a timeout of his own to advance the ball but an eventual three point attempt from
Maia Jones would rim out and the Gaels would see the game go to overtime.
OVERTIME SMC 67-74 SCU
After trading buckets on their first possessions Santa Clara would take control of the OT period with an 8-2 scoring run to take a six-point lead. The Broncos guards were ultra aggressive attacking the paint and ended up getting to the free throw line three different times. The Broncos finished the OT period a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to ice the game and seal the 74-67 victory.
Ironically enough, Santa Clara surrendered the lead late and fell in overtime to Saint Mary's in their first meeting back in December to kickoff conference play but were able to return the favor here tonight. Three-point shooting and foul trouble were big factors for both teams as the Broncos finished 45% from beyond the arc and were 17-for-21 from the free throw line.
The Gaels struggled from the field outside of the third quarter as they were just 5-of-31 from three and finished 37% from the field. Their 31 three-point attempts were the most in a game this season and despite shooting a perfect 8-for-8 from the stripe, the Broncos still shot 13 more free throws. The box score looked good in several categories for Saint Mary's including rebounding (+10), turnovers (+6), second chance points (+10) and paint points (+18) but their struggles from beyond the arc and foul trouble proved the difference.
Maia Jones recorded her second straight 20-point game, finishing with 23 points, three rebounds and three assists.
Kennedy Johnson came on late to finish with 14 points and she also tied her career high with 12 rebounds and half of them coming on the offensive glass.
Abigail Shoff was the other double digit scorer for the Gaels with eleven points and five boards of her own.
Amy Kurkowski and
Mauriana Hashemian-Orr also combined for eight points off the bench.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's would see their three-game win streak come to an end Saturday night after falling to Santa Clara in overtime, 74-67. They fall to 11-8 overall and 7-3 in WCC play and now sit in a tie for second place with Portland in the conference standings. They will hit the road next week to take on Portland and Oregon State. Stream both games live on ESPN+ and get your tickets online at smcgaels.com.
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