SAN FRANCISCO — As the San Francisco Dons walked off the court following an 80-72 loss to Santa Clara, Marta Galic draped her arm around her twin sister Marija's shoulders.
Marija lifted her head, smiled, then high-fived a fan.
 
After missing the first 13 games of the season, Marija was one of the driving forces behind the Dons' repeated comebacks against the Broncos on Saturday. San Francisco showed more consistency with a healthier lineup and also got another 20 points from Lucie Hoskova, and Leilah Vigil's sixth double-double, but it wasn't enough to finish off visiting Santa Clara.
 
"It's been a while, so it felt so good," said Marija, encouraged after scoring six points and pulling down three rebounds in 16 minutes.
 
Marija had been nursing several ailments that dated back to last season, when she played in just nine games as a true freshman. She'd been active over the last several games, but had to finish a full practice before head coach Molly Goodenbour would put her in.
 
After the Broncos (8-6, 2-1 in WCC) got out and ran early, going up by as many as 15 with six points on the fast break, Goodenbour called Marija in to start the second quarter.
 
She quickly hit a rhythm 3 from the left and then a second-chance triple from the right on back-to-back possessions, fueling a 14-2 second-quarter run that put San Francisco ahead of Santa Clara for the first time on the afternoon.
 
Despite Marija's timely shooting, though, the Broncos surged back with a 10-0 run of their own over the final three minutes of the first half to take a 40-32 lead.
 
The Dons, though, had 10 second-chance points on seven offensive rebounds, and 12 points off of nine Santa Clara turnovers. That tenacity was a driving force behind yet another comeback after the break.
 
After allowing Santa Clara to shoot 18-of-39 (46.2%) from the field in the first half, San Francisco (7-8, 0-3 West Coast Conference) held the Broncos to just 1-of-9 from the field to start the second. The Dons — who had shot only 17-of-43 (39.5%) before the break — hit four of their first six out of the locker room to cut the lead back to two.
 
"It felt really good, really good," Marija said. "It felt really good to see all the reps and hard work I've been putting in, that they come back … I wish I'd gotten another [3-pointer]."
 
Hoskova kept the Dons in striking distance, scoring 12 of their 21 points in the third quarter on 6-of-7 shooting. She'd scored just seven in the entire first half.
 
San Francisco's defense kept the Broncos from getting too far ahead, forcing a 1-for-8 stretch from Santa Clara in the middle of the fourth quarter, with Vigil (14 points, 10 rebounds) pulling down four boards.
San Francisco, though, struggled to contain Emily Wulph, who had played in all but one game off the bench this season. The redshirt senior guard came in having gone 7-of-17 from 3-point range, but with just over a minute and a half to go in regulation, she hit her fourth of the day on nine tries, putting the Broncos up by seven and giving her a season-high 14 points.
 
"The offensive rebounds they got, they capitalized on," Goodenbour said. "They kicked out to shooters and made shots in a timely way. They made a lot of bit 3-point baskets when they needed to, and they got stops when they needed to."
 
Santa Clara, as a team, came in shooting 34.1% from beyond the arc, averaging just 14 shots from long distance per game. They finished 11-for-28 from 3-point land, while the Dons went 5-of-15.
 
"Our biggest hurdle is that we have one guard on the floor, and that's our starting point guard, and our backup point guard," Goodenbour said. "It's tough to play with five post players on the floor."
 
Marija — a former member of the Croatian junior national team — is expected to see her playing time increase, like Julia Nielacna (nine points in 20 minutes), who returned from her own malady earlier this week.
 
"I think the injuries are behind me now, and it felt really good to be back out there on the court with the girls," said Marija. "I just want to be able to knock some shots down, help the team and get some rebounds. It felt so good."