Nov. 27, 2004

Box Score

ALBUQUERQUE, NM - It was a tale of two halves for the Gonzaga University Bulldogs on Saturday night as they had a one-point halftime lead slip away during a 76-54 loss to the University of New Mexico in the championship game of the Airport University Inn Thanksgiving Classic in Albuquerque.

The Bulldogs (2-1) were limited to just 26 percent shooting in the second half as they were held scoreless for an 7-minute stretch of the second half. During that GU dry spell, New Mexico (4-0) hammered the ball in down low to tournament MVP Dionne Marsh. Marsh would finish with a game-high 20 points including a 12-of-15 performance from the free throw line as the Bulldogs also battled foul trouble in the second half.

Gonzaga had managed to take the 10,150 Lobo fans out of the game during the opening portion of the first half. Gonzaga opened with an 8-0 run over the first three minutes of the game with seniors Ashley Burke and Shannon Mathews each scoring four points. The Bulldogs continued to maintain the lead until the 11:13 mark of the first half before foul trouble set in. Senior Delphine Lecoultre hit three big jumpers from the top of the key to keep the Bulldogs in front.

The Lobos finally took the lead at the 8:15 mark of the first half as Judy Vogt hit a 3-pointer off a missed free throw. New Mexico would miss 12 free throws all night as they went to the line 38 times shooting 68 percent. Gonzaga made just 14 trips to the charity stripe with eight made.

After a back and forth final eight minutes, Ashley Anderson would send GU to the locker room with a one-point lead after hitting two free throws and converting a lay-up with four seconds left off a Mathews steal.

In the second half Marsh went to work in the low block converting a three-point play at the 18:23 mark that would give the Lobos the lead for good. Marsh continued work down low extending New Mexico's lead out to 49-37 with another bucket and free throw conversion.

Mathews was finally able to stop the Lobos first run with a 3-pointer from the left side that cut the lead to 49-40 at the 13:39. A put back by Juliann Laney sliced the lead to seven and then the Bulldogs went cold, Anderson finally breaking the draught with a free throw at 6:20.

"We broke down on our execution tonight and New Mexico was good enough to capitalize on our mistakes," said a disappointed GU head coach Kelly Graves. "I thought we played well in the first-half but we didn't play a complete game. Our plan entering tonight was to limit their runs and try to take the crowd out of it. We did that for 20 minutes."

Mathews finished with a team-high 13 points for Gonzaga as she was named to the All-Tournament team along with Burke. Anderson was the Bulldogs top rebounder finishing with nine.

Lindsey Arndt chipped in 13 points and Abbie Letz added 10 to round out the Lobos double-digit scorers.

Gonzaga returns to Spokane on Sunday to prepare for a busy week. The Bulldogs play at Eastern Washington University on Tuesday night before heading to Tempe, Ariz., for two games in the Arizona State Tournament. Tip time for Tuesday's game at EWU is 7 p.m.