Dec. 18, 2005

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. - The University of Montana Lady Griz (7-1) hit five second half 3-pointers Sunday afternoon to end the nation's 13th longest home winning streak with a 72-60 win over the Gonzaga University Bulldogs (3-8). It was the first home game for the Bulldogs in nearly a month and the loss ended a 14 game home win streak for Gonzaga at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The loss was also the first for either the GU men or women in the McCarthey Athletic Center ending a combined winning streak of 33 games.

Gonzaga gained a 25-22 lead with 3:05 remaining in the first half as Anne Bailey drained a jumper to follow a Sarah Schramm 3-pointer from the corner. Montana would score the next 10 points to end the half as Dana Conway scored seven of the ten points with two jumpers and a 3-pointer. Montana would hold a 32-25 half time lead despite shooting only 33 percent from the floor. Gonzaga was able to win the rebounding battle in the first 20 minutes with a 21-14 lead, but the Lady Griz went to the free throw line 15 times, hitting 14.

A driving lay-up by Katie Prichard at 17:57 cut the Montana lead to five points at 34-29 before the Lady Griz went on an extended run. Conway hit two more 3-pointers and Montana had pulled out to a 49-35 lead with just under 13 minutes left. Gonzaga was able to close the gap to eight points on a Katy Ridenour 3-pointer at 9:28, but the Bulldogs would never get within 10 points for the remainder of the game.

Sonya Rogers hit a 3-pointer with 5:39 left to push the margin to 17 points before finally closed the final score to 12 points. Conway led all scorers with 17 points hitting 7-of-12 from the floor including 3-of-5 3-pointers. Mandy Morales added 15 and Katie Edwards 13 for the Lady Griz who picked up a win in Spokane for the first time since 1996.

Gonzaga was led by Bailey with 16 points. Ridenour and Ashley Anderson each added 15, Ridenour hitting 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Both teams ended with 38 rebounds as Montana shot 42 percent for the game and Gonzaga ended at 40 percent. The Bulldogs also saw their streak of consecutive games with a block come to an end at 46 games.

The Bulldogs have two games this week prior to taking a few days off for the Christmas holiday. Gonzaga travels to the University of Denver on Wednesday night before a home contest on Friday afternoon against San Jose State University. The Bulldogs have already faced San Jose State once this season dropping the season opener to the Spartans, 69-61.