Santa Clara tops USF in OT
The inability to inbound the ball cost seventh-seeded San Francisco its second straight upset and a spot in the West Coast Conference women’s basketball tournament championship game.
Instead, top-seeded Santa Clara faces Pepperdine today at 1 p.m. at McCarthey Athletic Center after pulling out a 75-65 win in overtime in front of 941.
Shay Rollins’ bank shot with 36 seconds to play gave the Dons a 58-55 lead. Santa Clara missed two shots and on the rebound after the second miss with 10 seconds left, the ball was tied up with possession to USF. But the ball wasn’t inbounded cleanly and the Broncos tied up the ball to get possession with 6.3 seconds to go.
Kayla Huss, at the top of the key, flipped it to Chandice Cronk on the right wing and she swished the game-tying shot with 2.7 seconds left.
“I basically knew it was good the second it left my hand,” said Cronk, a sophomore from Alaska. “That was probably the biggest shot of my entire life.”
It was all Santa Clara in overtime. San Francisco missed its first four shots from the field and the foul line, allowing the Broncos some cushion and they pulled away with a couple of 3-pointers and foul shooting.
The final play wasn’t quite what coach Michelle Bento-Jackson drew up.
“We ran a play to Michelle Cozad, coming off a screen for a shot,” she said. “We knew that they were going to switch and we had Chandice popping out on the top and another one of our players popping out on top. I made it clear to them that if Michelle wasn’t going to be open, don’t force it, swing the ball and Chandice was about as open as she could possibly be.”
Dominique Carter led the Dons with 22 points but she didn’t get the same help she did in the win over second-seeded Gonzaga. USF shot 38.9 percent from the field and made just 5 of 15 free throws.
Player of the Year Michelle Cozad led SCU with 18 points. Huss had 16 and Cronk 15. Guard Tracy Walker had 13 boards.
Santa Clara 75, USF 65
San Francisco (9-20) – Carter 9-16 2-3 22, Jensen 1-6 1-2 3, Rollins 5-10 0-0 12, Stephens 4-9 1-2 9, Peace 3-12 0-1 6, Jones 2-2 0-0 4, Warren 0-6 1-3 1, Wellander 1-7 0-2 2, Shorts 3-4 0-2 6. Totals 28-72 5-15 65.
Santa Clara (19-10) – Monteith 3-7 3-7 9, Cozad 6-16 4-6 18, Walker 0-2 5-6 5, Martin 2-3 0-0 5, Huss 5-6 4-4 16, Cronk 6-11 0-0 15, Gonnerman 2-8 3-4 7, Graham 0-0 0-0 0, Kimyacioglu 0-0 0-0 0, Goeggel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 19-27 75.
Halftime–San Francisco 26, Santa Clara 26. 3-point goals–San Francisco 4-18 (Carter 2-4, Rollins 2-6, Jensen 0-1, Wellander 0-3, Peace 0-4), Santa Clara 8-19 (Cronk 3-6, Huss 2-3, Cozad 2-6, Martin 1-2, Walker 0-1, Gonnerman 0-1). Fouled out–Stephens. Rebounds–San Francisco 44 (Warren 10), Santa Clara 47 (Walker 13). Assists–San Francisco 10 (Peace 3), Santa Clara 14 (Martin, Huss 4). Total fouls–San Francisco 20, Santa Clara 15. A–941.