Feb. 10, 2005

Stats

SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University senior Ashley Burke turned in one of the most complete games of her career on Thursday night as she scored 21 points to lead the Bulldogs (21-2, 10-0 WCC) to a 61-51 win over a feisty Pepperdine University squad in West Coast Conference action at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

In addition to her 21-point effort on the offensive end, Burke was instrumental in shutting down one of league's top scorers as Gonzaga limited Pepperdine's Jennifer Lacy to just 5 points on 2-of-12 shooting. Lacy entered the game as the WCC's top scorer averaging 17.4 points per game as the Waves dropped to 9-14, 5-5 in the WCC.

"We had a great team effort on defense against their best player," stated Burke after the Bulldogs win. "I love playing good defense. It just pumps me up and gets me going on offense."

That offensive effort for Burke consisted of a 9-for-10 shooting night from the floor as she scored 8 points in the first and 13 in the second as she collected 20-plus points for the second consecutive game and fourth time this season.

Pepperdine opened the game on a mission quickly jumping out to an 8-3 lead over the first three minutes, Syreeta Stafford and Daphanie Kennedy combining for six of those points. The Waves would hold the lead until Anne Bailey tied the game at 12-12 with just over 12 minutes. Shannon Mathews would hit one of her three 3-pointers two minutes later and the Bulldogs took the lead for good.

Mathews scored 11 of her 15 points in the first-half as Gonzaga led by as many as 14 before going to the locker room with a 32-22 lead. The Bulldogs continued to apply the pressure on offense to open the second half extending the lead to as high as 41-24 with 16 minutes left.

Lauren Wenski then sparked a Pepperdine rally hitting a 3-pointer with 15:25 left that led the Waves on an 18-4 run over the next nine minutes and trimming the Bulldogs lead to 45-42 with 6:27 remaining. Stafford connected on a jumper to end the Waves rally, the senior guard seven of her team-high 12 points in the run.

Gonzaga turned to Burke to withstand the Waves run as the senior forward hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead back to five and followed with a jumper to push Gonzaga back out to a seven-point lead with 4:28 left. Gonzaga would hit 6-of-6 from the free throw line to close out the final three minutes and extend the nation's longest winning streak to 17 games.

Anne Bailey added 13 points for the Bulldogs while Mathews had 12 assists to go along with her 15 points. Kennedy was the only other Pepperdine player to reach double-digits with 12 points.

Gonzaga will face Loyola Marymount University on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. with a chance to win the regular-season West Coast Conference championship. Should the Bulldogs win they will clinch their first WCC title since the 1987-88 season. LMU was a 69-60 winner over Portland on Thursday.

Fans can also help the Gonzaga Student Athletic Advisory Committee promote children's literacy by bringing a new or like-new book to the game on Saturday afternoon. Each fan that brings a book will be entered in a drawing for a chance to win two tickets to an upcoming men's basketball game or use of a suite at the final women's home game of the season on Feb. 26 against Portland.