Fort Myers, Fla. - Ten days after their last game, the Lady Eagles (1-1) return to action tomorrow afternoon to host Santa Clara (0-4) in Alico Arena. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.

Series Information: First Meeting.

Know Your Opponent: Santa Clara

Bronco Watch
Santa Clara is still searching for win No. 1. Under the direction of first-year head coach Jennifer Mountain, SCU returns six letterwinners and two starters from last season and welcomes five talented newcomers. Forward Gipson leads the team in points and rebounds, averaging a double-double with 13.3 points and 13.0 rebounds per game. Redshirt freshman Rhianna Faithfull and senior Claire Goins lead the team’s shooting with a 66.7 and a 64.3 field goal percentage, respectively. Faithfull and Becky Goll are perfect from beyond the arc, and Goins and Elizabeth Doran remain perfect at the charity stripe.

Last Time Out
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - The Santa Clara women’s basketball team faced its fourth straight setback of the season Monday night at Northern Arizona. The final score in the hard-fought battle was 68-51.

The Broncos (0-4) were led by redshirt freshman Kelli Parker, who had 12 points, and sophomore Lena Gipson, who had 11 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Senior Claire Goins also tied the game-high rebounds.

Santa Clara opened the first half, after winning the tip, with a 4-0 lead on back-to-back jumpers by Gipson. However, at 17:52, Northern Arizona knotted the score on a field goal by Sade Cunningham. The Broncos regained the lead on a layup by Goins, but a three-pointer from Cunningham gave the Lumberjacks their first lead of the game. Santa Clara saw its last lead at 14:45 on free shots by Parker, 8-7. NAU regained control and produced a 15-0 run to claim a 29-12 lead with 6:27 left in the half.

Santa Clara’s last field goal was scored at 13:24, but free throws made by Sara Majors, Gipson and Goins helped SCU chip at the lead. At 2:15, Goins cut the lead to 12-points with her two made free throws. Parker executed a jumper with just two seconds left to make the score at the half, 36-22.

NAU started the second half with a 10-2 run to take a 46-24 lead. A three-point play by Alyssa Shoji brought the score under a 20 difference, as did a layup from Majors at 14:26. Both teams were held scoreless for about three minutes before Tiffany Amos’ layup put the Lumberjacks up by 21 points, 50-29. From then on, NAU held no less than a 20-point lead over SCU.

With 4:34 left in the game, the Broncos began to cut the deficit. An 11-2 run fueled on layups by Parker and Gipson, and a free shot by Goins, made the score 64-46. Junior Brittany Purvis, an Arizona native, saw action in her first game since the 2006-07 season. She scored a layup at 1:08 to cut the lead to 17-points, 66-49.

The Lumberjacks reached their 68 points on free throws by Jannelle Matthews, but the Broncos had the final say with a field goal by Goins, 68-51.

For the Lumberjacks, Caty Huntington had 16 points, while Cunningham collected 11 points and Lauren Hoisington had 10 points.