Women's Basketball Wraps Up Non-Conference Slate
12/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2004
Gonzaga Women's Basketball Notes - Dec. 27, 2004
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Game No. 11 - UTAHWednesday, Dec. 29 - 7 p.m.McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) - Spokane, WARadio - KGA 1510 AM (pre-game show 30 minutes prior to tip)
GONZAGA UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS (8-2, 0-0 West Coast) F - 13 Ashley Burke, 6-1, Sr., North Vancouver, BC (12.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.3 apg) F - 42 Stephanie Hawk, 6-2, So., Ontario, OR (7.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.5 blk) F - 44 Anne Bailey, 6-0, Jr., Snohomish, WA (6.9 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.3 apg) G - 10 Shannon Mathews, 5-6, Sr., Riverside, CA (11.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 5.5 apg) G - 32 Raeanna Jewell, 5-7, Sr., Veradale, WA (7.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.3 apg) HEAD COACH: Kelly Graves (University of New Mexico, 1988) GONZAGA RECORD: 60-67 (5th year); CAREER RECORD: 126-93 (8th year)
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH UTES (8-3, 0-0 Mountain West) F - 4 Kim Smith, 6-1, Jr., Mission, B.C. (16.8 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 2.8 apg) F - 24 Camie Allen, 6-1, So., Flower Mound, TX (2.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.3 apg) C - 23 Deanne Hanchett, 6-3, Fr., Draper, UT (8.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.2 apg) G - 10 Shona Torburn, 5-10, Jr., Hamilton, Ontario (12.2 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 6.1 apg) G - 32 Lana Sitterud, 5-10, Sr., Highland, UT (9.9 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.1 apg) HEAD COACH: Elaine Elliott (Boise State University, 1977) UTAH RECORD: 445-181 (22nd year); CAREER RECORD: Same
Game No. 12 - DENVER Friday, Dec. 31 - 1 p.m. McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) - Spokane, WA Radio - KGA 1510 AM (pre-game show 30 minutes prior to tip)UNIVERSITY OF DENVER PIONEERS (2-7, 0-0 Sun Belt) F - 25 Venice Adams, 5-9, Sr., Luling, LA (11.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.1 apg) F - 31 Cassondra Bratton, 5-11, Fr., Arvada, CO (5.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 0.4 apg) C - 00 Sarah Cyran, 6-3, Sr., Broomfield, CO (8.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 1.5 apg) G - 11 Brooke Meyer, 5-4, Fr., Denver, CO (6.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.6 apg) G - 21 Tasha Jones, 5-9, Sr., San Antonio, TX (10.6 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.3 apg) HEAD COACH: Pam Tanner (Illinois State University, 1989) DU RECORD: 140-123 (10th year); CAREER RECORD: Same
Game No. 13 - SACRAMENTO STATE Monday, Jan. 3 - 7 p.m. McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) - Spokane, WA Radio - KGA 1510 AM (pre-game show 30 minutes prior to tip)
SACRAMENTO STATE UNIVERSITY HORNETS (3-5, 0-0 Big Sky) F - 33 Ashley Cadotte, 6-0, Jr., Oregon City, OR (8.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.7 apg) C - 5 Katelyn Ciampi, 6-2, Jr., Martinez, CA (5.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.1 apg) G - 2 Samania Black, 5-6, Sr., Inglewood, CA (0.5 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 0.6 apg) G - 20 Kim Sheehy, 5-9, So., Santa Fe, NM (7.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.4 apg) G - 32 Cindy Alldrin, 5-9, Jr., Vancouver, WA (8.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.6 apg) HEAD COACH: Dan Muscatelli (Western Washington, 1983) SSU RECORD: 4-31 (2nd year); CAREER RECORD: Same
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 60-67 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 126-93 including a 51-47 WCC mark.
BULLDOGS CONTINUE NON-CONFERENCE PLAY: Gonzaga wraps up its non-conference schedule with three more home games against the University of Utah, University of Denver and Sacramento State University this week at McCarthey Athletic Center. GU opens play against Utah on Wednesday night before hosting Denver on Friday afternoon and Sacramento State next Monday night. Following those three home games the Bulldogs open West Coast Conference action at home against Santa Clara University and Saint Mary's College. The Bulldogs are 2-0 on their current seven-game homestand and have won all three home games this season.
SCOUTING THE UTES: Gonzaga returns to action following the Christmas break against Utah on Wednesday night. The Utes fell out of the Associated Press Top 25 poll after losing last week to the University of Oklahoma. The Utes are 8-3 on the season and hold a 3-0 series advantage over Gonzaga. All-American candidate Kim Smith leads the Utah offense with 16.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS: Gonzaga hosts Denver for a New Year's Eve matinee as the teams square off at 1 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Denver is 2-7 on the season with wins in two of their last three games. Venice Adams is the Pioneers top player with 11.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Denver leads the all-time series 1-0 picking up a win over GU in Hawai'i in Nov. of 2002.
SCOUTING THE HORNETS: Gonzaga hosts Sacramento State to open 2005 on Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. as the Bulldogs conclude their non-conference schedule. Sacramento State is 3-5 on the season with games against Texas Tech and New Mexico State prior to visiting Spokane. Tyeisha Brown currently comes off the bench to lead the Hornets with 11.8 points per game. The all-time series is tied at 1-1 with Gonzaga winning the last match-up 89-55 in 2002.
ANDERSON OUT FOR THE SEASON: Junior forward Ashley Anderson will miss the remainder of the season after an MRI revealed that she suffered a torn ACL in her left knee prior to the Bulldogs Dec. 18 game against the University of Idaho. Anderson was averaging 8.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game prior to the injury. Last season Anderson was an honorable mention All-WCC selection with 11.4 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game.
WINNING AT HOME: Gonzaga improved to 3-0 at home this season prior to taking off for the Christmas weekend. The Bulldogs picked up wins over Idaho and Portland State to go along with their season opening victory over Utah Valley State. The Bulldogs look to continue their solid play at home as they play their next five games in the McCarthey Athletic Center. Over the past three seasons Gonzaga has compiled a 26-4 record for a winning percentage of .866. GU has won over 10 games at home each of the previous two seasons with a 13-2 record in 2003 and 10-2 record in 2004.
ANOTHER BIG BLOCKING NIGHT: Gonzaga picked up its second double-digit blocks effort of the season against Idaho on Dec. 18 as the Bulldogs swatted away 11 Vandals shots. Earlier this year Gonzaga picked up 12 blocked shots in a win over the University of Nevada. The 12 blocks tied a school-record set against the University of Alaska-Anchorage during the 2001 Great Alaska Shootout. The 11 blocked shots against Idaho tied for third on the single-game list with 11 blocked shots against UC Riverside in January 2003. The Bulldogs have now picked up 10 or more blocked shots in a single game on six occasions. The GU team leader for blocks this season is Stephanie Hawk with 15 with Anne Bailey second on the list with 11. Gonzaga has now blocked at least one shot in a game in 14 straight games dating back to last season. The Bulldogs currently rank tied for 6th in the NCAA with 6.4 blocks per game despite not having a player in the Top 30 for blocked shots. Gonzaga is tied with Purdue, Northwestern (LA) State and Montana for 6th on the NCAA list.
MORE NCAA RANKINGS: Gonzaga has also climbed into the NCAA Top 30 in two other categories as the Bulldogs prepare to face the University of Utah. Gonzaga ranks 30th in both field goal percentage defense and rebound margin with Lamar University leading both categories on the national level. The Bulldogs are holding opponents to 34.9 percent shooting for the season with only two opponents (New Mexico and Arizona State) shooting over 40 percent in a game this year. Gonzaga has also picked up a +7.4 rebound margin for the season with Gonzaga out rebounding its opponents in all but two games. Arizona State held a one rebound advantage over GU while Boise State had a two rebound margin. Four times this season Gonzaga has out rebounded its opponents by more than 10 rebounds with a season-high of plus-20 coming against Utah Valley State.
BURKE HEATING UP: Senior Ashley Burke has found her scoring touch over the Bulldogs last three games as she has led GU in scoring during wins over Boise State, Idaho and Portland State. Burke has scored 20, 17 and 17 points during those three wins to boost her season scoring average to 12.3 points per game. That scoring surge has also moved Burke farther up the career scoring list. Burke now has 1,290 career points with Carla Curfman just ahead in sixth place with 1,333 career points. Burke has also cracked the Bulldogs career Top 10 for rebounds with 568. She needs 12 more rebounds to catch Lisa Vestal for ninth place and 20 more rebounds to catch Janet Robertson for eighth.
BULLDOGS WIN AGAIN ON KHQ: Gonzaga improved to 2-0 during games played on KHQ-TV in Spokane after the Bulldogs picked up a 70-53 win over Idaho on Dec. 18. Gonzaga previously won on KHQ during January of 2003 with a 72-59 victory over Portland.
BULLDOGS IN THE RPI: Gonzaga continues to have a strong showing in the College RPI rankings as the Bulldogs entered the Christmas weekend with a No. 60 ranking in the RPI. Gonzaga had climbed as high as No. 49 earlier in the week but fell to No. 60 despite a convincing 18-point win over Portland State. Gonzaga faces Utah on Wednesday night with Utes ranked No. 45 in the RPI. The next best West Coast Conference team is Santa Clara with an RPI of 108. The WCC is rated 13th out of 32 NCAA Division I conferences.
MATHEWS MOVES UP WCC ASSISTS LIST: Senior guard Shannon Mathews moved up one more spot on the West Coast Conference list for career assists passing Aimee McDaniel of Pepperdine for 9th on the WCC charts. Mathews now has 458 career assists as she chases the 500 assist mark with three players ranking 6th through 8th on the WCC list sit with 503, 502 and 501 career assists.
GRAVES MOVES TWO WINS CLOSER TO RECORD: Gonzaga head coach Kelly Graves moved two wins closer to becoming Gonzaga's all time coaching leader as he won games No. 59 and 60 at Gonzaga prior to the Christmas weekend. Graves currently ranks third on the Gonzaga career wins list with Mike Peterson the career leader with 65 wins and Julie Holt in second place with 63 wins. Only Holt has also taken Gonzaga to post-season play as a NCAA Division I school with an NIT appearance in 1994.
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. Gonzaga knocked off Northwest rival - University of Idaho - on Dec. 18 on KHQ marking the second appearance on KHQ for the Gonzaga women. Gonzaga next appears on Fox Sports Net as part of the West Coast Conference package with a January 15 game 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 also has six games scheduled to broadcast on GU-TV which is available on local Spokane cable station 15. The broadcasts include the Bulldogs season opening win over Utah Valley 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.
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 16 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.
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.
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.
