Gonzaga University
11-11, 2-6
Portland
10-11, 2-6
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| GONZAGA BULLDOGS | 41 | 30 | 71 |
| PORTLAND PILOTS | 25 | 40 | 65 |
Bulldog Women Hold Off Pilots
2/3/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2002
Jessica Malone and Bernice Stime hit late back-to-back 3-pointers in a span of 1:09 Sunday to help stave off a second-half University of Portland comeback as Gonzaga University downed the Pilots 71-65 in a West Coast Conference women's basketball game at the Chiles Center.
The win evened Gonzaga's record at 11-11 and pushed the Bulldogs to 2-6 in the WCC as they strive to improve their positioning for seeding into the WCC Tournament heading into the final six regular-season contests. Portland fell to 10-11, 2-6.
Malone, who scored a team-high 18 points, connected from the top of the arc with 3:17 remaining and Stime nailed a 3-pointer from the right side with 2:08 to go as the Bulldogs built the lead to 10 points at 65-55.
But the contest was still far from over, Tami Standish, who scored 14 of her game-high 24 points in the second half, got a rebound basket and Da'Love Woods hit a deep 3-pointer from the top of the circle to cut the deficit to 65-60 with 73 seconds remaining. A Wood lay made it 66-64 with 29 seconds left, but the Bulldogs got 3-of-4 free throws from Malone and a pair of free throws from Shannon Matthews in the final 20 seconds to hang on for the victory.
The Pilots came from a 16-point halftime deficit to almost pull out their second win of the week over the Bulldogs, taking Wednesday's game in Gonzaga's Kennel 62-59. The Pilots, 6-of-31 from the field in the first half, made 3-of-6 shots to start the second half, while the Bulldogs hit just 1-of-5 from the field after shooting 50.0 percent in the first half.
Standish scored seven of the first nine Portland points of the second half, and teamed with Khalila O'Reilly-Williams to score 22 of the first 25 Pilot points of the half. Only Tiffany Harz's 3-pointer interrupted the duo's domination. A Standish 3-pointer from the left top and a pair of free throws by O'Reilly-Williams got the Gonzaga lead under 10 points for the first time at 44-36 with 12:37 to go in the game. The Bulldogs, who held a 24-18 rebounding edge in the first half, were out rebounded 10-3 in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
The Bulldogs still held a 53-43 lead with 9:16 remaining when O'Reilly-Williams scored from the right of the lane and Standish hit a fallaway jumper from left of the free throw line to cut the Gonzaga lead to 53-47 with 8:18 to go.
But Malone hit two free throws, Standish a jumper and Malone a bank shot from the free throw line for a 57-49 Gonzaga lead with 7:01 to play that set up the heart-stopping moments down the stretch.
For the second straight game the Bulldogs jumped on the Pilots early, building an early 15-point lead at 24-9 midway through the half. Gonzaga hit four of its first six shots from the field, while the Pilots missed their first eight tries. The Pilots, who went nearly six minutes Wednesday in Spokane before getting on the scoreboard, didn't get a field goal until the 15:14 mark Sunday after taking a quick 1-0 on a free throw in the game's first 34 seconds.
Raeanna Jewell sparked the early offense for the Bulldogs, getting an open 8-foot jumper on a nice pass from Anne Bickelhaupt and a 3-pointer from the right top of the circle on back-to-back possessions for a 9-1 Gonzaga less than four minutes into the game.
Gonzaga went 5-for-6 from the free throw line in a stretch of 2:30, got a fast break layin from Shannon Matthews on an over-the-top pass from Triana Allen and a Laney trey from the left corner for a 19-5 lead with 11:50 to go. Ashley Burke's 10-footer and Laney's second 3-pointer opened the 24-9 lead.
After the Pilots cut the deficit to 12 points at 26-14, the Bulldogs built the lead to as many as 19 points - 37-18 - with 3:11 remaining in the first 20 minutes, an 8-2 run aided by four free throws doing much of the damage. The Pilots had plenty of chances to cut into the lead in the final 2:15, the Bulldogs whistled for five fouls in the waning minutes of the half. But Portland, which has had a roller coaster season from the line, converted on just 5-of-10 free throws in that stretch. The Pilots were 12-of-19 from the free throw line in the half.
Gonzaga continued its hot shooting for much of the first half, finishing 14-for-28 for an even 50 percent, including 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. Portland, meanwhile, never recovered from its cold start, hitting just 6-of-31 from the field for 19.4 percent and going just 1-for-8 from 3-point range. Only 13 Portland points off 11 Gonzaga turnovers kept the halftime margin from being larger.
