Nov. 29, 2004
Gonzaga Women's Basketball Notes - Nov. 29, 2004
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Gonzaga Women's Basketball Statistics
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Game No. 4 - EASTERN WASHINGTON Tuesday, November 30 - 7 p.m. Reese Court (5,000) - Cheney, WA
GONZAGA UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS (2-1, 0-0 West Coast)F - 13 Ashley Burke, 6-1, Sr., North Vancouver, BC (9.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 2.7 apg)F - 30 Ashley Anderson, 6-0, Jr., Enterprise, OR (9.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.3 apg)F - 44 Anne Bailey, 6-0, Jr., Snohomish, WA (7.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.3 apg)G - 10 Shannon Mathews, 5-6, Sr., Riverside, CA (10.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 7.0 apg)G - 32 Raeanna Jewell, 5-7, Sr., Veradale, WA (10.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.3 apg)HEAD COACH: Kelly Graves (University of New Mexico, 1988)GONZAGA RECORD: 54-66 (5th year); CAREER RECORD: 120-95 (8th year)
EASTERN WASHINGTON EAGLES (1-2, 0-0 Big Sky)F - 32 Jamie Chicane, 6-1, Jr., Cottonwood, ID (9.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.3 apg)F - 45 Julie Page, 6-2, Jr., Cheshire, England (11.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 1.3 apg)F - 55 Felice Moore, 6-2, Jr., Spokane, WA (13.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 2.0 apg)G - 10 Joanna Chadd, 5-8, So., Philomath, OR (5.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 4.3 apg)G - 33 Stephanie Ulmer, 5-9, Sr., Ellensburg, WA (7.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.0 apg)HEAD COACH: Wendy Schuller (Fresno Pacific University, 1992)EWU RECORD: 42-47 (4th year); CAREER RECORD: Same
Game No. 5 - NEVADA Arizona State Holiday Classic Friday, Dec. 3 - 7:30 p.m. (PST) Wells Fargo Arena (14,141) - Tempe, AZ
NEVADA WOLF PACK (2-1, 0-0 Western Athletic)F - 4 April Bankston, 6-1, Sr., Hayward, CA (8.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.6 apg)F - 32 Meghan McGuire, 6-1, Fr., Orange County, CA (13.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.3 apg)G - 2 Talisha Anderson, 5-10, Sr., Springfield, OR (14.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.0 apg)G - 10 Traci Graham, 5-6, So., Reno, NV (9.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.6 apg)G - 33 Amber Young, 5-10, Sr., Scottsdale, AZ (7.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 4.6 apg)HEAD COACH: Kim Gervasoni (Fresno State University, 1989)UNR RECORD: 5-27 (2nd years); CAREER RECORD: Same
Game No. 6 - ARIZONA STATE OR ALABAMA STATE asu holiday Classic Saturday, Dec. 4 - 5:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. (PST) Wells Fargo Arena (14,141) - Tempe, AZ Consolation or Championship Game ZAGS FACE THREE GAMES IN FIVE DAYS: Gonzaga enters its busiest week of basketball competition for the season as the Bulldogs play three games over a five-day stretch, all three games taking place on the road. The week starts with a Tuesday game at nearby Eastern Washington University with the Zags looking to avenge last season's 72-69 Eagles win. From their Gonzaga travels to Tempe, Ariz., to play in the Arizona State University Holiday Classic. GU opens tournament play against the University of Nevada before facing either host Arizona State or Alabama State University on Saturday. The Bulldogs are coming off a second-place finish at the Airport University Inn Thanksgiving Classic in Albuquerque, NM. Gonzaga knocked off Providence College in the opening game before losing the championship game to host New Mexico.
HEAD COACH Kelly Graves: Kelly Graves is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Gonzaga University Bulldogs looking to take the team to back-to-back post-season berths for the first time in the Division I history of the program. Graves has compiled a 54-66 record at Gonzaga but has built the Bulldogs into a West Coast Conference title contender with consecutive second place finishes in the league. In 2003 he was named the WCC Coach of the Year after leading the Bulldogs to a seven game turnaround. Last season the Bulldogs lost in the WCC title game and advanced to the Women's NIT, the first post-season appearance for Gonzaga in ten seasons. Prior to taking over the Bulldogs program Graves built Saint Mary's College into a WCC power with two post-season appearances. His career record is 120-92 including a 51-45 WCC mark.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES: Gonzaga faces Eastern Washington on Tuesday night with the Bulldogs looking to avenge last season's loss to the Eagles at the Spokane Arena. EWU enters the game with a 1-2 record and a third place finish in the Great Alaska Shootout. The Eagles are led by Felice Moore who is averaging 13 points and 9 rebounds per game. Julie Page is also averaging double-figures for Eastern Washington with 11.3 points per game. Gonzaga has won three of the last four meetings in Cheney including a 69-64 win during the Bulldogs most recent trip to Reese Court in December 2001.
SCOUTING THE WOLF PACK: Gonzaga opens play in the Arizona State Holiday Classic against the Nevada Wolf Pack. Nevada is off to a 2-1 start for the season after only winning three games last year. The Wolf Pack has knocked off the University of Colorado and Cal State Fullerton. The lone loss was at Brigham Young on Nov. 24, the Wolf Pack's last game prior to heading to Arizona. Talisha Anderson is Nevada's top scorer with 14 points per game while guard Amber Young is versatile with 7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. This will be the third meeting between the two schools and the second as NCAA Division I members. The series is tied with GU winning the last game 66-63 in December of 1993 at the Idaho Thanksgiving Classic.
PAIR OF ASU'S ON DECK: Gonzaga will face either Alabama State or Arizona State in the second game of the ASU Holiday Classic. Alabama State is 0-1 on the season with a Wednesday game at the University of South Alabama before flying to Tempe. Arizona State is 4-1 for the year with their lone loss coming to current No. 1 Louisiana State University. The Sun Devils have three players averaging over 11 points a game while Alabama State had three players score in double-digits during their loss to the University of Arkansas. Arizona State holds a 1-0 series advantage over Gonzaga with a 96-52 win over the Bulldogs in December 1998. Gonzaga and Alabama State have never met.
RED HOT LECOULTRE: Senior Delphine Lecoultre has been the Bulldogs hot shooter off the bench during the early part of the season as the French center leads the GU team with a .714 shooting percentage. On Saturday night against New Mexico, Lecoultre went 3-for-4 from the field scoring six first-half points which helped stake Gonzaga to a one-point halftime lead. Lecoultre is averaging 7.3 points per game and 13 minutes of playing time.
PROTECTING THE BALL: Part of Gonzaga's early season success is due in part to the team's ability to take care of the ball. Gonzaga currently has a 1.7-to-1 assist to turnover ratio as a team with 62 assists to 37 turnovers. Better yet is the play of Bulldogs senior point guard Shannon Mathews who has a 3-to-1 ratio with 21 assists compared to only 7 turnovers. Mathews ranks second on the GU all-time assists list with 424. Amy Simpson is the GU career leader with 439 assists.
DOMINATING DEFENSE: Gonzaga has played dominant defense during the first three games of the season as the Bulldogs are holding opponents to 34 percent shooting for the season. The Bulldogs have held their opponents to less than 37 percent shooting in four of six halves this season. In the season opener against Utah Valley State, Gonzaga limited the Wolverines to just 19 percent shooting in the second half. Against Providence, GU held the Friars to 30 percent for the game with halves of 33 and 28 percent. The defensive trend continued in the opening 20 minutes against New Mexico as the Gonzaga held the Lobos to 36 percent shooting. The Bulldogs have also posted big defensive category numbers with 20 blocked shots and 31 steals over three games. Stephanie Hawk is the team leader with five blocks while Shannon Mathews has a team-high six steals.
TAKING OUT THE CROWD: On Saturday night Gonzaga played in front of the largest crowd in school history and was effective in taking out the 10,150 New Mexico fans for the first 20-minutes of the game. In the second half Gonzaga was held scoreless for a seven-minute span that allowed the Lobos to pull away. The announced crowd for Friday's game was even larger as 10,273 fans watched the New Mexico-Missouri game which followed Gonzaga's win over Providence. A large of portion of that crowd did see the end of the Bulldogs 85-38 win over the Friars. Prior to traveling to Albuquerque, the largest crowd to watch a Gonzaga women's game was 6,537 during the Bulldogs win over Alaska Anchorage in the 2001 Great Alaska Shootout.
BURKE STREAK ENDS AT 17: Senior Ashley Burke had her consecutive game streak of scoring in double-figures end at 17 games with the Bulldogs loss to New Mexico. Burke was held to just seven points on 3-for-8 shooting. Burke started her consecutive game streak last season with a 13-point night against San Francisco, scoring in double-figures in the Bulldogs last 15 games of the 2004 season.
BURKE, MATHEWS EARN ALL-TOURNEY HONORS: Seniors Ashley Burke and Shannon Mathews were both named to the Airport University Inn Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament team after the Bulldogs second-place finish. Burke scored 17 points with 12 rebounds during the two games shooting 7-for-15 from the floor. Mathews was the Bulldogs offensive leader against New Mexico finishing with 13 points and 5 assists in the championship game. Mathews had 21 points and 12 assists for the weekend.
KANE HITS THE COURT: Sophomore guard Rachel Kane made her first appearance of the season on Friday night playing two minutes in the Bulldogs blowout win over Providence. Kane missed the final 14 games of the 2004 season after suffering a torn ACL and MCL in overtime at San Francisco. Kane was cleared for game action following the Utah Valley State game and will gradually increase her playing time as the season progresses.
MATHEWS MILESTONES: Senior Shannon Mathews could hit two career milestones this week as the Bulldogs play three games. Mathews needs just 15 assists to become the GU career assists leader and 18 points to become the 10th Gonzaga player to score 1,000 points. Amy Simpson is the only Gonzaga player with 400 career assists and 1,000 career points finishing her career with 1,386 points and 349 assists.
BULLDOGS ANNOUNCE RADIO PACKAGE: The Bulldogs will have a minimum of 11 games broadcast on the radio during the 2005 season. Starting with the Bulldogs opener against Utah Valley State on Nov. 20, Gonzaga will have 10 regular-season games and all post-season games broadcast on the Bulldogs radio network - KGA 1510 AM in the Spokane area.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: In addition to basketball on the radio Gonzaga will also have several games broadcast on television starting with the Bulldogs Dec. 18 game against Northwest foe - the University of Idaho. The game against the Vandals will be broadcast on Spokane station KHQ marking the second time women's basketball has been broadcast on the Bulldogs television network. Gonzaga will also appear on Fox Sports Net as part of the West Coast Conference package. That game for Gonzaga will be on January 15 at Pepperdine. The game will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. on FSN West with a tape delayed broadcast at 9 p.m. on FSN Northwest. The championship game of the West Coast Conference tournament will also be broadcast on FSN with a time still to be determined. Gonzaga will also have six games broadcast on GU-TV which is available on local Spokane cable station 15. The broadcasts include the Bulldogs season opener against Utah Vally State and the final five home games against West Coast Conference foes.
WCC TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO FORM: The 2005 West Coast Conference Women's Basketball Tournament will have a new look this year as the league has returned to its previous format of all eight teams playing on the first day in a seeded bracket. The first day of the tournament will be on Thursday, March 3 with the winners advancing to Saturday's semifinals. The championship game will be played on Sunday afternoon with the winner earning the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid. The last two seasons the WCC has held a weighted league tournament with the top two regular-season teams receiving byes into the semifinals. Gonzaga has benefitted from the previous format the last two seasons finishing second both years and starting tournament play in the semifinals. Last year the Bulldogs advanced to the WCC title game losing to Loyola Marymount 61-58.
SEASON TICKETS NOW ON SALE: Fans can now purchase season tickets for women's basketball in the new McCarthey Athletic Center. Season tickets cost $50 and grant fans a reserved seat at all 13 Gonzaga women's home games. Call (509) 323-4202 for more information or to purchase your seats.
SCHRAMM TO REDSHIRT: Gonzaga freshman post player Sarah Schramm will redshirt the 2004-05 season after suffering a stress fracture in her hand during a recent Bulldogs practice. Schramm scored four points during the Bulldogs exhibition win over Lewis-Clark State and did not play against Utah Valley State.
BULLDOGS START NEW 3-STREAK: In the Bulldogs final home game in the Martin Centre, Gonzaga witnessed its consecutive game streak with a 3-pointer made come to an end against the University of San Francisco. That 0-for-6 performance against the Lady Dons ended a 222 game streak in which the Bulldogs had made at least one 3-pointer in a game. The streak started after the Bulldogs went 0-for-10 against the University of San Diego on Feb. 17, 1996. Gonzaga rebounded from that performance to knock down seven 3-pointers in each of its next two games to start a new streak which stands at nine games. The Bulldogs record for 3-pointers made in a game is 14 against UC Riverside on Dec. 31, 2001. Gonzaga has recorded 16 games with 10 or more 3-pointers made since the 3-point basket was incorporated into the college game.
PRESEASON FAVORITES: With five starters returning and back-to-back second place finishes in the WCC, the Gonzaga Bulldogs were selected as league favorites in a preseason poll of WCC coaches. Gonzaga received seven of eight first place votes and held a six-vote advantage over predicted runner-up Pepperdine University. The two league favorites will meet on Jan. 15 in Malibu, Calif., in a game that will be televised on Fox Sports Net.
BURKE, MATHEWS AMONG TOP WCC PLAYERS: Seniors Ashley Burke and Shannon Mathews have been selected as two of the top five returning players in the West Coast Conference. Both players were first-team All-WCC selections last season with Burke leading the conference in field goal percentage (.529) and ranking fourth in scoring (14.8 ppg). Mathews was the top point guard in the league last season with her 4.7 assists per game leading the WCC and her 2.17 steals per game ranking third. Joining Burke and Mathews among the top returning WCC players are Jennifer Lacy of Pepperdine, Ashlee Orndorff of Portland and Toni Russell of San Francisco.
NEW HOME FOR BULLDOGS BASKETBALL: Gonzaga basketball will have a new home this season as the Bulldogs open play in the new 6,000 seat McCarthey Athletic Center. The $25 million project was completed in October of 2004 and will serve as the home for men's and women's basketball. The Bulldogs played their first regular-season game in the new building on Nov. 20, picking up a 87-41 victory over Utah Valley State College. Gonzaga also knocked off Lewis-Clark State College by 60 points in the building during their only exhibition game of the season.
BULLDOGS SIGN THREE NEW PLAYERS: Gonzaga head coach Kelly Graves announced the signing of three new players that will join the Bulldogs team for the 2005-06 season. Signing national letters of intent with the Bulldogs were guard Jami Bjorklund, forward Maria Hassett and forward Simone Santos. Bjorklund is 5-11senior off-guard from Spokane's University High. Hassett is a 6-2 forward at Aloha High School in Beaverton, Ore., where she plays for former Gonzaga standout Ivy Safranski. Santos is a 6-2 junior college sophomore from Brazil that currently plays at Western Nebraska Community College.
