SANTA CLARA, Calif.- The University of Portland women’s basketball team scored an 83-73 victory over Santa Clara Saturday night, snapping a seven-game road losing streak to the Broncos and claiming a fourth place finish in the WCC. The Pilot backcourt combination of Lauren Himmelspach and Whitney Grant combined for 42 points to lead Portland. The Pilots finish the regular-season with a 13-14 overall record and 8-6 WCC mark for their first winning season in conference since a 9-5 record in 1998. Santa Clara finished 8-19 overall, 4-10 in the WCC and in sixth place.

Portland led by as much as 24 points in the first half and never trailed the home Broncos. The Pilots held a 45-26 lead at halftime, fueled by an 18-3 run over a five minute stretch late in the period. Himmelspach scored five of her 13 first half points during the run and Jamie Medley hit a pair of three-pointers as well. Hanna Seltzer’s trey made it 43-19 with 2:07 left for Portland’s largest lead of the night.

Pilot leading scorer Khalila O’Rielly-Williams was limited to just one point in the first 20 minutes, but the rest of the squad rose to the occasion as six other players had five or more points at the break. Jennie Rondel led the Broncos with 12 first-half points.

Santa Clara narrowed the margin to 11 points with 7:35 remaining in the game on a rebound and basket by Jenni Gottschalk, but Himmelspach answered with four quick points off a lay-up and two free throws.

The lead was down to single-digits after Ashley Graham’s three-pointer made it 69-61 with 4:18 to play. The Pilots continued to hit their free throws though, as Grant knocked down a pair. Two free throws by Bronco guard Quinn Thomas brought Portland’s advantage down to six with 56 seconds remaining, but that would be as close as SCU would get as Portland made 8-of-10 from the stripe in the last minute to seal the win.

Portland overcame a poor shooting night with rebounding and turnovers, out-rebounding Santa Clara 52-48 and forcing 24 Bronco turnovers. The Pilots held a 23-17 edge in points off turnovers and a 10-0 edge in fast break points. Portland shot just 38 percent (26-of-68) compared to Santa Clara’s 41 percent (26-of-64).

Himmelspach had a career game, finishing with 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting and 8-of-9 at the charity stripe. She also grabbed six rebounds and had four steals. Grant tallied 15 points and reached double figures for the fourth time in the last five games. Orndorff recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 12 points and a career-high 15 boards to go with four steals and a pair of blocked shots.

Rondel led four Broncos in double figures with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Graham and Gottschalk both finished with 15 points, while Quinn Thomas added 11.

With the fourth place finish, Portland earns a first round bye in the West Coast Conference tournament and will face the winner of the Saint Mary’s (No. 5) vs. San Diego (No. 8) first round contest on Friday, Mar. 5 at 12:00 p.m. Both the men’s and women’s WCC Tournament will be held at the Leavey Center on the Santa Clara University campus.