SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The No. 15/16 Gonzaga women's basketball team defeated Santa Clara 74-61 Thursday evening at the Leavey Center in Santa Clara, Calif.
 
Gonzaga (24-3, 13-2 WCC) finished with three players in double figures led by Zykera Rice with 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Laura Stockton added 13 points and seven assists; Stockton moved into third all-time program history in career assists with her first assist of the night. Jenn Wirth also finished in double-figures with 12 points and eight rebounds.
 
The Bulldogs out-rebounded Santa Clara (11-15, 4-11 WCC) 41-31 and finished with 21 assists on 29 made field goals.
 
"We were a little bit more aggressive [tonight] and changed a few defensive things, which was nice," head women's basketball coach Lisa Fortier said. "…I thought we had good intensity and a lot of passion in this game. We're going to need that going forward."
 
In a close opening quarter, Gonzaga shot 50 percent from the floor and out-rebounded Santa Clara 12-5, yet four threes from the Broncos kept the score close. LeeAnne Wirth opened the scoring with a layup for the Zags at the 8:32 mark of the first quarter, but Santa Clara countered with a trey 14 seconds later. There were two ties and three lead changes, and SCU lead with under a minute to go. A jumper from Rice, part of her eight first-quarter points, with 45 seconds to go gave the Bulldogs the advantage heading into the second.
 
Santa Clara had tied the game with 7:57 to go with its fifth trey of the opening half, but a trey from Chandler Smith a minute later ignited an 11-0 Bulldog run to put GU in front 34-23 with 2:38 remaining in the second quarter. Gonzaga countered eight first-half turnovers with a dominating performance on the glass, out-rebounding Santa Clara 26-10 with 10 offensive rebounds, good for six second-chance points. Gonzaga limited the Broncos to just four points in the final 7:57 of the second quarter to take a 38-27 halftime lead.
 
Gonzaga cooled off in the third and converted just 6-of-17 attempts to shoot 35.3 percent from the floor, but a solid defensive effort forced seven third-quarter turnovers on the Broncos resulting in six Bulldog points. The Zags outscored Santa Clara 16-13 in the third to extend their lead to 14, 54-40.
 
In the fourth quarter, Gonzaga shot 44.4 percent from the floor and hit three of its six total threes in the final 10 minutes. The Bulldogs led by as many as 20 points in the final quarter, continuing on for the 74-61 victory.
 
Santa Clara was led by Ashlyn Herlihy with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists while Tia Hay added 12 points and six assists.
 
Gonzaga is back in action Saturday, Feb. 23 at San Francisco for a 2 p.m. tipoff.