WCC Tournament roundup: Santa Clara women thump Loyola Marymount, will play top-seeded Gonzaga

LAS VEGAS – Merle Wiehl scored 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting to lead fourth-seeded Santa Clara women in a 83-68 rout of No. 8 seed Loyola Marymount in the West Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals Saturday at the Orleans Arena .

The Broncos (14-10) advance to face top-seeded Gonzaga in Monday’s 11 a.m. semifinal. The Zags won the lone meeting of the teams this season, 67-50 on Feb. 13 in Spokane.

Lindsey VanAllen added 22 points and three steals for Santa Clara, which shot 57.7% from the floor and 50% (9 for 18) from 3-point range.

“We’ll get to Gonzaga tonight and tomorrow,” Santa Clara coach Bill Carr said. “They’re really good. They don’t have many weaknesses. But we’ll be here at 11 on Monday and we’ll be ready to go.”

Khari Clark paced the Lions (7-19) with 16 points. Chelsey Gipson added 15 points and seven rebounds.

(3) San Francisco 69, (7) Saint Mary’s 63: Lucie Hoskova paced a balanced offense as the Dons (15-9) downed the Gaels (7-19) in the other quarterfinal.

Hoskova scored 18 points for San Francisco, which will face second-seeded BYU in Monday’s 2 p.m. semifinal. Ioanna Krimili added 15 points for the Dons, and former Eastern Washington standout Jessica McDowell-White had 10.

The Dons shot 45.2% from the floor and 35.3% on 3-pointers. Saint Mary’s shot well at 41.4% overall, but committed 20 turnovers.

Madeline Holland and Jade Kirisome paced the Gaels with 13 points apiece.

The Dons and BYU split their two-game series this season.