Cal Poly Women’s Basketball outlasted the Santa Clara Broncos in the second game of their doubleheader 70-59 on Tuesday, Dec. 15 inside Mott Athletics Center.
After defeating Santa Clara (1-2) 57-56 the day before, the Mustangs improved to 3-1 with Tuesday’s win and are on a three-game win streak.
The Mustangs came out of the game with defensive intensity in the first quarter as Cal Poly held the Broncos to just five points. Both teams had a slow start to the game as the Broncos led 5-4 with 4:46 remaining in the quarter. However, the Mustangs shut out the Broncos the rest of the first quarter, going on a 12-0 run to take a 17-5 lead at the end of the first.
Cal Poly carried their momentum into the second quarter as they extended their lead to 25-7 with 7:43 remaining after a layup off of a steal by sophomore guard Abbey Ellis. However, the Broncos started to find their offensive rhythm in the second quarter as they cut the Mustang lead down to 29-18 with 3:08 remaining. The Mustangs closed out the half by re-extending their lead to 38-23.
The Mustangs’ defense helped secure the 15-point lead at halftime as they forced the Broncos to commit 11 turnovers, while scoring 10 points off the Broncos’ turnovers. In addition, the Cal Poly held Santa Clara to 31% shooting from the field and 27% from three-point range.
In the third quarter, the Mustangs recorded their largest lead of the game (19 points) when senior guard Malia Holt made a layup to extend the lead to 49-30. Again, Santa Clara started chipping away at their deficit as the Mustangs took a 12-point 53-41 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Broncos started to shift the momentum into their favor in the fourth quarter as they trimmed the Mustangs’ lead into single digits. Santa Clara pulled within six points at 58-52 when guard Lana Hollingsworth made a layup with 5:15 remaining in the game. However, the Mustangs protected their lead and finished the game with a 70-59 victory thanks to eight fourth quarter points by junior forward Hannah Scanlan.
While the Mustang defense forced the Broncos to commit 24 turnovers, the Mustangs shot 46% from the field and had four players in double figures. Both senior forward Kirsty Brown and Scanlan posted new season-highs with 12 and 10 points. Meanwhile, Ellis scored 17 points and recorded a career-high eight steals. Senior forward Sierra Campisano added a game-high 21 points to help the Mustangs secure the victory.
The Mustangs will travel to Riverside, Calif. and face California Baptist on Saturday, Dec. 19.