USF, Langer scorch Santa Clara at KP Arena
SANTA CRUZ >> The inside of Kaiser Permanente Arena has been mostly empty and cold while hosting NCAA basketball games during the pandemic. University of San Francisco guard Amalie Langer provided her own heat Saturday night.
The hot-shooting Langer tied a USF single-game record by going
8-for-8 shooting from the field, helping the Dons defeat host Santa Clara 67-54 in the teams’ West Coast Conference game. She finished with gamehigh 21 points, including three 3-pointers.
“Amalie Langer gave us a really big lift offensively,” Dons coach Molly Goodenbour said. “She looked to score, that was something she wasn’t really doing earlier this year. She hit a couple of really big buckets for us. On the defensive side, she did a tremendous job on their leading scorer, Lindsey VanAllen.”
The Broncos (8-6, 4-4), unable to practice or play home games on campus due to COVID-19 in Santa Clara County, dropped to 1-3 in games played at KP Arena this season. Fans weren’t allowed to attend.
Langer, a sophomore out of Denmark, joins former Dons Rheina Ale (9-for-9 vs. Northern Colorado on Nov. 29, 2008) and Teri Hunt (11-for-11 vs. Loyola Marymount on Jan. 25, 1986)
as the only other players to shoot 100% from the field with at least eight attempts.
Ioanna Krimili, a freshman guard out of Greece, buried five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points for the Dons (6-8, 2-6). Lucie Hoskova, a senior guard out of Czech Republic,
added 14 points, along with six rebounds and three assists.
The Dons turned seasonhigh 23 SCU turnovers into 37 points.
“It was a great team effort with lots of contributions throughout the lineup and you need that to get a win on the road,” Goodenbour said. “Santa Clara has been playing really well and our girls were excited for the opportunity to compete
against them.”
San Francisco led 39-35 after three quarters and scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter, part of 16-2 run that was too much for the Broncos to overcome.
“Our defense let us down in the fourth quarter,” Broncos coach Bill Carr said. “We were chasing the ball around and they took advantage of it. We did cut it to four but then just couldn’t keep the momentum. All credit to them.”
Senior forward Ashlyn Herlihy scored a team-high 11 points to go with seven rebounds for the Broncos. Ashley Hiraki, a freshman guard out of Archbishop Mitty High, produced a career-high 10 points. VanAllen had nine points and six rebounds.