Jan. 11, 2001

Box Score

Gonzaga opened West Coast Conference action on Thursday night in The Kennel as the San Francisco Lady Dons cruised past the Bulldogs 72-52.

Jessica Malone's 3-pointer at the 15:03 mark put the Bulldogs ahead, 15-10, and it seemed as if the Zags were on their way to handing the Lady Dons back-to-back conference-opening losses. Gonzaga defeated USF, 76-71, last year at War Memorial Gym in San Francisco.

The Bulldogs held a slim lead, 23-22, at the 6:48 mark in the first half when Amanda Fasholtz sank the first of two free throws. Her free throw signified the last time that Gonzaga would lead the rest of the game. The Lady Dons built a 10-point lead, 37-27, as Kim Whisler hit a 10-foot jumper with 0:49 remaining in the half. San Francisco headed into the locker room with momentum and a 39-37 halftime advantage.

The Lady Dons came out in the second half with a 5-0 run and built a 15-point lead, 42-27, with 18:38 left in the second half. The Bulldogs began to struggle offensively when Gonzaga's leader in scoring and rebounding, junior forward Jessica Malone, suffered a sprained left ankle when she attempted a layin. Malone was fouled by USF's Alicia Hernandez with 17:25 left in the second half.

The Bulldogs could only cut USF's lead down to 14 points the rest of the way. San Francisco forced Gonzaga into 19 turnovers and opened up an insurmountable 20-point margin during the closing seconds of the contest.

Gonzaga's head trainer Leanne Stockton said that she will know more on Friday concerning the extent of Malone's injury.

Malone managed to break one more scoring record before her early exit as her 11-point effort was good enough to surpass Juanita Rivera on Gonzaga's all-time scoring list. Malone moves into 7th place with 1,022 career points as she overcame Rivera's 1,021 career-point total.

The Zag women fall to 5-9 overall and 0-1 in the WCC as the Lady Dons improve to 8-6 and 1-0 in early conference play.

Jessica Malone's 11 points were good for the team high as USF's Kim Whisler led all scorers with 17 points. Bernice Stime recorded a game-high 11 rebounds as it was her third game in-a-row with a double-digit rebounding effort.

Malone and the Zags won't have much time to re-cooperate as they pick up WCC action again on Saturday, Jan. 13, when they take on the powerful Dosty twins and the rest of the Saint Mary's Gaels squad. Saint Mary's (12-2, 1-0 in WCC) is coming off a 79-70 win over the University of Portland. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at The Martin Centre.