SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Interstat) — The Santa Clara Broncos defeated the Pacific Tigers 87-79 in a West Coast Conference women’s basketball game Thursday night at Leavey Center.

Santa Clara built a commanding 48-36 halftime lead behind strong early shooting. Pacific mounted a significant second-half rally, outscoring Santa Clara 27-12 in the third quarter to close the gap, but the Broncos answered with 27 points in the fourth to secure the win.

Daria Nestorov led all scorers with 20 points for Pacific. Santa Clara’s Ashley Hawkins nearly recorded a double-double with 19 points and nine assists, while Delainey Miller also scored 19 points. Ava Schmidt added 14 points and three blocks for the Broncos.

Santa Clara improved to 22-8. Pacific fell to 11-17. An announced crowd of 370 attended.