Women's Basketball Looking For Holiday Lift

Dec. 20, 2005

2006 Gonzaga Women's Basketball Notes - Dec. 20
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2006 West Coast Conference Weekly Release
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Game No. 12 - DENVER Wednesday - Dec. 21, 6 p.m. (PST) Magness Arena (7,200) - Denver, CO


GONZAGA UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS (3-8, 0-0 West Coast)F - 30 Ashley Anderson, 6-0, Sr., Enterprise, OR     (7.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.1 apg)F - 42 Stephanie Hawk, 6-3, Jr., Ontario, OR     (12.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.4 apg)F - 44 Anne Bailey, 6-0, Sr., Snohomish, WA     (11.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.4 apg)G - 21 Katy Ridenour, 5-11, Jr., Post Falls, ID     (7.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.4 apg)G - 34 Katie Prichard, 5-9, Sr., Elk, WA     (2.1 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 0.9 apg)HEAD COACH: Kelly Graves (University of New Mexico, 1988)GONZAGA RECORD: 83-77 (6th year); CAREER RECORD: 149-103 (9th year)
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER PIONEERS (4-5, 0-0 Sun Belt)F - 25 Venice Adams, 6-0, Sr., Luling, LA     (7.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 0.5 apg)F - 52 Sara Benham, 6-0, So., Muleshoe, TX     (10.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.2 apg)G - 11 Brooke Meyer, 5-4, So., Denver, CO     (8.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.1 apg)G - 12 Jenna Cole, 5-11, Fr., Lincoln, NE     (7.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 1.8 apg)G - 24 Tyesha Lowery, 5-6, Jr., Arlington, TX     (8.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.3 apg)HEAD COACH: Pam Tanner (Illinois State University, 1989)DENVER RECORD: 146-143 (11th year); CAREER RECORD: SameSERIES: Tied 1-1

Game No. 13 - SAN JOSE STATE Friday - Dec. 23, 2 p.m. McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) - Spokane, WA Radio: KGA 1510 AM (pre-game show 30 minutes prior to tip)


SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY SPARTANS (3-5, 0-0 WAC)F - 34 Amber Jackson, 6-2, So., Oxnard, CA     (18.8 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 1.2 apg)F - 43 Lamisha Augustine, 6-1, Sr., Fresno, CA     (16.6 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 2.1 apg)G - 20 Myosha Barnes, 5-5, Fr., Milwaukee, WI     (3.3 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.3 apg)G - 22 Breana Fields, 5-8, Fr., Sacramento, CA     (3.8 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.8 apg)G - 23 Brittany Imaku, 5-2, Jr., Lakewood, CA     (5.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.2 apg)HEAD COACH: Janice Richard (Louisiana College, 1986)SJSU RECORD: 83-96 (7th year); CAREER RECORD: 242-133 (13th year)SERIES: Gonzaga leads 2-1

HEAD COACH Kelly Graves: Kelly Graves is in his sixth season as the head coach at Gonzaga University having built the Bulldogs into an annual West Coast Conference contender. After winning just 5 games his first season, Graves guided the Bulldogs to their first regular-season title since 1988 last year when GU posted a 28-4 record and 14-0 mark in the WCC. It was only the second time a school has run the table in the league, Graves was an assistant coach at the University of Portland when the Pilots accomplished the feat in 1997. Graves was named the WBCA Region 8 Coach of the Year and WCC Coach of the Year as Gonzaga ran off a nation's-best 23 game win streak and earned the school's first national ranking. Graves is currently the school's career wins leader with a 83-77 record. He has twice been named the WCC Coach of the Year at Gonzaga (2003 & 2005) and boasts a 149-103 career record including 65-47 in WCC action.

Gonzaga's streak of 46 straight games with at least one blocked shot came to an end against Montana.

BULLDOGS LOOKING FOR HOLIDAY LIFT: Gonzaga will play two games this week heading into the Christmas break with the Bulldogs looking to snap a three game losing skid. With Sunday's loss to Montana assuring the Bulldogs of a losing non-conference record, Gonzaga is looking to build some momentum for West Coast Conference action over their next four games. GU will travel to Denver on Wednesday before hosting San Jose State on Friday afternoon at the McCarthey Athletic Center. After a few days off for Christmas, Gonzaga travels to Utah Valley State and hosts Portland State on Jan. 2 prior to opening WCC play at home.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS: Gonzaga faces Denver for the second straight year as the Bulldogs travel to the Mile High City on Wednesday. Denver is off to a 4-5 start including a 2-2 record at Magness Arena. The Pioneers are currently 0-2 against WCC opponents falling to Portland and San Francisco this season. Forward Sara Benham is the Pioneers leading scorer and rebounder with 10.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Last year Gonzaga picked up 63-39 win in Spokane to even the all time series at 1-1.

SCOUTING THE SPARTANS: Gonzaga and San Jose State wrap up a rare non-conference home and home series on Friday afternoon at the McCarthey Athletic Center. San Jose State won the season opener over GU 69-61 to cut the Bulldogs series lead to 2-1. Stephanie Hawk picked up a double-double for Gonzaga with 17 points and 11 rebounds while Amber Jackson led all players with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Jackson is currently averaging 18.8 points and 10.6 rebounds a game for SJSU.

LINE-UP SHAKE UP Head coach Kelly Graves attempted to shake things up with his team yet again on Sunday afternoon as the Bulldogs had their fifth different starting line-up in 11 games on the floor. Sophomore Elaina Renius was placed in the line-up for Ashley Anderson for the game. Graves was leaning towards yet another combination for this weeks games.

HOME STREAK COMES TO AN END: Gonzaga lost for the first time at the McCarthey Athletic Center on Sunday afternoon when the University of Montana ended the nation's 13th longest home winning streak. The loss snapped a 14 game home win streak for the Bulldogs and became the first loss ever for a GU team in the building. In 2005 Gonzaga was undefeated at the McCarthey Athletic Center in both men's and women's action. This year the men are off to a 4-0 home start and the women are 1-1 giving Gonzaga a 33-1 record in The Kennel.

Katy Ridenour drained three 3-pointes against Montana to increase her season total to 14.

BLOCK STREAK ALSO ENDS: In addition to the home court winning streak coming to a close, Gonzaga also saw its streak of consecutive games with at least one block shot end at 46 games. Gonzaga still has 50 blocked shots on the season and Stephanie Hawk still remains the WCC leader with 15 blocks on the season.

BULLDOGS AND THE 3-POINTER: 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 and has extended its current streak to 49 games. The Bulldogs record for 3-pointers made in a game is 14 against UC Riverside on Dec. 31, 2001. Gonzaga has recorded 17 games with 10 or more 3-pointers made since the 3-point basket was incorporated into the college game including a 13 3-point performance against Santa Clara last season to open West Coast Conference play.

ANDERSON CONTRIBUTES OFF THE BENCH: Senior Ashley Anderson came off the bench to provide 15 points in the Bulldogs loss to Montana. It was the first game this season she has come off the bench as head coach Kelly Graves continues to shift line-ups looking for a solid rotation. Anderson has now reached double figures in three straight games increasing her scoring average to 7.8 points per game. Anderson is also shooting a team best 57 percent from the floor.

BATTLE ON THE BOARDS: One of the strong suits for the Gonzaga women's team over the last few years has been rebounding, this year through 11 games Gonzaga is being out-rebounded by its opponents by just under one rebound per game. Against Montana on Sunday the Bulldogs finished tied with the Lady Griz with 38 rebounds each despite a 7 rebound advantage in the first half. Gonzaga has 402 rebounds for the season with their opponents pulling down 412. On the season Gonzaga has out-rebounded its opponents in four games picking up wins in two of those four games. Anne Bailey leads the Bulldogs with 5.8 rebounds per game.

SCHRAMM PLAYS SOLID MINUTES: Redshirt freshman Sarah Schramm played 16 solid minutes on Sunday against Montana after not playing in the Bulldogs last three games. The 16 minutes were a season high for Schramm as she scored 3 points and pulled down a season-high 5 rebounds. She is averaging 2.9 rebounds per game in seven appearances.

ASSISTS LEADERS: Following Sunday's game against Montana two players now share the team lead for assists as Katy Ridenour and Sasha Polishchuck each have 27 assists for the year. Polishchuck and Jami Bjorklund are currently the only two GU players with a positive assist to turnover ratio with Polishchuck standing with 27 assists and 24 turnovers. Bjorklund has 15 assists with 13 turnovers.

RIDENOUR HITS FROM 3: Junior Katy Ridenour hit three more 3-pointers on Sunday afternoon to increase her season total to 14 with a .452 shooting percentage. Ridenour is now just four 3-pointers away from her career total entering the season. She is currently the only GU player with more than 10 3-pointers on the season. Ridenour finished the Montana game with 15 points to hit double figures for the second straight game and third time in her last four games.

Sarah Schramm pulled down 5 rebounds in 16 minutes of action against Montana.

BAILEY BACK ON TRACK: Senior Anne Bailey seemed to get back on track on Sunday afternoon as she scored 16 points to end a two game skid in which she had scored just four points. Bailey has now scored in double figures in 6 of the Bulldogs first 11 games and ranks second on the team with 11 points per game.

HAWK LIMITED AGAIN: Junior Stephanie Hawk was shut down for the second straight game by an opponent as the Bulldogs leading scorer was held to just 5 points by Montana. Hawk, who opened the season with seven straight double figure games, has been held to less than 10 points in three of the last four games. She continues to lead GU with 12.5 points per game.

BULLDOGS SIGN SIX NEW PLAYERS: Gonzaga head coach Kelly Graves announced the signing of six new players that will join the Bulldogs team for the 2006-07 season. Signing national letters of intent with the Bulldogs were Janelle Bekkering, Heather Bowman, Michelle Elliott, Vivian Frieson, Simone Jordan and Tatriana Lorenzo. Bekkering is a 6-0 guard/forward at W.R. Myers High in Taber, Alberta, Canada. Bowman is a 6-2 forward from Spokane's Lewis and Clark High. Elliott is 5-11 guard from Pasco, Wash., who played two seasons at San Diego State University before attending Columbia Basin College for classes this season. Frieson is a 6-0 forward from Seattle's Garfield High. Jordan is a 5-10 guard from Franklin High in Portland. Lorenzo is a 5-7 point guard from Kamahameha High in Honolulu.

WCC TOURNAMENT COMES TO SPOKANE: The West Coast Conference Tournament will makes its first appearance in Spokane as the Bulldogs host the annual men's and women's championship on March 2-6 at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The Gonzaga women have advanced to the last two WCC Championship games losing to Loyola Marymount in 2004 at San Diego and to host Santa Clara last season.

Upcoming Events

Results

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus 5-seed Ole Miss on March 20, 2026 , Loss , 66, to, 81

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus WCC Championship Game vs. Oregon State on March 10, 2026 , Win , 76, to, 66

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus WCC Championships - Semifinal vs. Santa Clara on March 9, 2026 , Win , 88, to, 60

Completed Event: Women's Basketball at Portland on February 28, 2026 , Loss , 91, to, 92 , OT

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus Saint Mary's on February 26, 2026 , Win , 75, to, 67

Completed Event: Women's Basketball at Pacific on February 21, 2026 , Win , 85, to, 70

Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus Washington State on February 19, 2026 , Win , 75, to, 50

Completed Event: Women's Basketball at Loyola Marymount on February 14, 2026 , Loss , 63, to, 72

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