Box Score
SANTA CLARA, Calif. --- The Pilots played stifling defense and sophomore Tara Cronin poured in a career-high 20 points as Portland defeated the Santa Clara Broncos 50-38 in a West Coast Conference women’s basketball game on Saturday afternoon at the Leavey Center. The Broncos managed just 12 field goals on the day and shot 30 percent from the field.
Portland, which defeated San Francisco 68-50 on Thursday night, picks up its second straight conference road win to improve to 9-8 overall and 2-1 in the WCC. Santa Clara remains winless during league play at 0-4 and falls to 2-17 overall.
The game remained close throughout with the Pilots finally pulling away late in the second half for the double-digit win. After leading 20-18 at the break, UP scored nine of the first 11 points of the second half to open a 29-20 lead. Cronin hit a pair of jumpers during the spurt.
Moments later, back-to-back field goals by Portland senior Allyson Sievers pushed the lead to 35-23, easily UP’s biggest advantage to that point.
Santa Clara was then able to climb back into the game by going on a 9-2 run, which was capped by a Lena Gipson lay-up that made it a 37-32 game with 10:00 left to play. But that’s as close the Broncos would get as Portland hit enough shots and free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
Cronin hit seven of 13 shots from the field and went 2-for-3 on three-pointers en route to a game-high in points. She also had seven rebounds and a career-high five steals.
Sievers found her shooting touch, going a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor to finish with 12 points. She matched Cronin with a team-high seven boards. Junior Laiken Dollente just missed scoring in double figures with nine points. Dollente also had four of Portland’s 15 steals.
Gipson finished with a team-high 15 points for the Broncos, despite going 3-for-10 from the field. She cleaned up at the free throw line, going 9-for-10. Free throws kept the Broncos in the game as Santa Clara went 11-for-13 from the line.
The Broncos shot 12-for-40 overall and connected on just three of 14 three-pointers. Santa Clara was also hampered by 25 turnovers, which led to 18 points for the Pilots.
UP shot 35.7 percent (20-for-56), hit three three-pointers and went 7-for-12 from the charity stripe. Portland also claimed a slight 35-34 edge in rebounds over Santa Clara, which got 10 boards from Gipson.
The Pilots will look for their third straight WCC win on Thursday night as the Loyola Marymount Lions visit the Chiles Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.
