March 15, 2005
Gonzaga Women's Basketball Notes - Women's NIT Game 1
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2005 Gonzaga Women's Basketball Statistics
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2005 Gonzaga Player Bios
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West Coast Conference Weekly Notes
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2005 Sportsview.TV WNIT Bracket
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Game No. 31 - BRIGHAM YOUNG SPORTSVIEW.TV WOMEN'S NIT FIRST ROUND Wednesday, March 16 - 7 p.m. McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) - Spokane, WA Radio - KGA 1510 AM (pre-game 30-minutes prior to tip)
GONZAGA UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS (27-3, 14-0 West Coast)F - 13 Ashley Burke, 6-1, Sr., North Vancouver, BC (14.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.2 apg)F - 42 Stephanie Hawk, 6-2, So., Ontario, OR (9.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 0.9 apg)G - 10 Shannon Mathews, 5-6, Sr., Riverside, CA (11.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 6.6 apg)G - 11 Juliann Laney, 5-11, Jr., Sprague, WA (1.4 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 0.9 apg)G - 32 Raeanna Jewell, 5-7, Sr., Veradale, WA (8.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.3 apg)HEAD COACH: Kelly Graves (University of New Mexico, 1988)GONZAGA RECORD: 79-68 (5th year); CAREER RECORD: 145-94 (8th year)
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY COUGARS (19-10, 9-5 Mountain West)F - 32 Kristen Kozlowski, 6-2, Sr., Centerville, UT (10.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.5 apg)F - 35 Melinda Johnson, 5-10, So., Murray, UT (3.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.8 apg)F - 51 Danielle Cheesman, 6-2, Sr., Orem, UT (8.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.2 apg)G - 14 Julie Sullivan, 5-8, Sr., Silver City, NM (11.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.8 apg)G - 30 Mallary Gillespie, 5-10, Fr., Vineyard, UT (7.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.4 apg)HEAD COACH: Jeff Judkins (University of Utah)BYU RECORD: 77-45 (4th year); CAREER RECORD: Same
BULLDOGS HOST NIT GAME: Gonzaga will host its first post-season game on Wednesday night when the Bulldogs host Brigham Young University in the opening round of the 2005 Sportsview.tv Women's National Invitational Tournament. This will mark Gonzaga's third WNIT appearance and second straight. The Bulldogs lost in the opening round of last year's WNIT at Oregon State University. The winner of the GU/BYU contest will face the winner of the Southern Methodist/Southwest Missouri State game which will be played on Thursday night. A game date and location will be determined following Thursday night's action. Other games in the Gonzaga pod of the WNIT are Tulsa at Texas A&M and Fresno State at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The WNIT field includes 32 teams with four pods of four. All games are played on the home court of one of the competing schools.
MATHEWS NAMED WCC PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Senior guard Shannon Mathews was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year after the Bulldogs finished the regular-season with a 25-2 record and 14-0 mark in WCC action. Mathews ranked second on the team with 11.7 points per game while leading the WCC with 6.6 assists per game. During the season Mathews became the Bulldogs career assists leader against Arizona State University and moved up to fifth on the WCC career assists list. Mathews ranks sixth in the NCAA in assists per game entering the WCC Tournament.
GRAVES NAMED COACH OF THE YEAR: Head coach Kelly Graves was named the West Coast Conference Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons after guiding the Bulldogs to a perfect WCC season at 14-0. Graves earned his first WCC Coach of the Year honor two seasons ago when the Bulldogs moved from eighth place in 2002 to a second place finish in 2003, posting an 18-12 record. This season Graves team has earned its first national ranking finishing the regular-season in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches polls.
FOUR ZAGS EARN ALL-WCC HONORS: In addition to Shannon Mathews and Kelly Graves winning individual honors, four Gonzaga players were named to the All-West Coast Conference team. Mathews and senior Ashley Burke earned first-team honors while Anne Bailey and Raeanna Jewell were honorable mention selections. Mathews averaged 11.7 points and 6.6 assists per game to earn her second straight first-team mention. Burke averaged 14.3 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting a team-high 54 percent from the floor. This is Burke's third first-team selection joining current assistant coach Jennifer Mountain and Ivy Safranski as the Bulldogs only three time first-team honorees. Bailey and Jewell received their first All-WCC accolades with Bailey averaging 9.6 points per game while Jewell averaged 8.8 points. This is the second time that Gonzaga has had four players selected to the All-WCC team. The first time was in 1989 when Carla Curfman, Jennifer Mountain and Tammy Tibbles earned first-team honors with Kay Koppelman landing on the honorable mention squad.
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 79-68 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 145-94 including a 65-47 WCC mark.
SCOUTING THE BYU COUGARS: Gonzaga will host its first post-season game on Wednesday night against BYU. This will be the fifth meeting between Gonzaga and BYU with the Cougars holding a 3-1 advantage. The most recent meetings occurred during the 2001 season when BYU knocked off Gonzaga 74-57 in Spokane as Kelly Graves entered his first season coaching the Bulldogs. BYU was 19-10 overall this season including a 9-5 record in the Mountain West Conference. BYU has a 4-4 record against common opponents with GU this season with games against Nevada, Portland, Portland State, New Mexico and Utah on the schedule. The Cougars are led by All-Mountain West guard Julie Sullivan with 11.6 points per game while Ambrosia Anderson contributes 10.6 points per game off the Cougars bench. BYU averages 64.4 points per game while shooting 43.7 percent from the floor.
BULLDOG LEADERS: Gonzaga seniors Ashley Burke and Shannon Mathews will get at least one more opportunity to move up the West Coast Conference career lists when the Bulldogs host BYU this week. Mathews ranks fifth on the WCC career assists list with 587 and needs just four more assists to pass former Santa Clara guard Jennifer Lucas. Mathews was hampered with an ankle injury in the WCC Tournament missing most of the Pepperdine and Santa Clara games. Burke had a standout performance in the WCC Tournament moving into 10th place on the WCC scoring list with 1,607 points. Burke also became just the fourth Gonzaga player to pass the 1,600 point mark. Burke needs 12 points to move into 9th place and pass former San Francisco star Brittany Lindhe.
BURKE EARNS ALL-WCC TOURNAMENT HONORS: Senior Ashley Burke did her best to guide the Bulldogs to their first NCAA Tournament bid as she was named to the WCC All-Tournament team. Burke averaged 18.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for Gonzaga during their three-game tournament run. Burke shined in the WCC Tournament game scoring a season-high 28 points. Burke was solid from the field shooting 57 percent while hitting 96 percent from the free throw line.
BULLDOGS REACH SECOND STRAIGHT WCC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: The Bulldogs reached their second straight WCC Championship game but were once again denied the championship as Santa Clara held off a late GU run to win 77-66. Ashley Burke scored 28 points and Gonzaga played a majority of the game without WCC Player of the Year Shannon Mathews. Last season Gonzaga fell in the title game by three points to Loyola Marymount. Gonzaga is still the only WCC team not to reach the NCAA Tournament.
FIRST TITLE SINCE 1988: The Gonzaga Bulldogs clinched their first WCC women's basketball title since winning the league during the 1987-88 season with an 11-3 record. The Bulldogs finished 14-0 in the WCC and set a new school mark for WCC wins in a season. Gonzaga previously hit 11 wins in back-to-back seasons of 1988 and 1989 as the season-high. Gonzaga also became only the second team in West Coast Conference history to run the table and finish 14-0 in league play. Portland was the first team to accomplish the feat in 1997, a team on which Kelly Graves served as an assistant coach.
CONFERENCE PERFECTION: With the close of the regular-season, Gonzaga was one of only three schools to go undefeated during conference play for the 2005 season. The Bulldogs were 14-0 in the West Coast Conference marking only the second time that a team has gone undefeated in WCC action. Portland was the first with a 14-0 record in 1997. Also going undefeated in league play this season were Louisiana State University with a 13-0 record in the Southeastern Conference and Temple University with a 15-0 record in the Atlantic-10 Conference.
GONZAGA AT HOME: Gonzaga will put its 13 game home winning streak on the line on Wednesday night when the Bulldogs host BYU. Gonzaga went 13-0 this year to open the new McCarthey Athletic Center and that win streak ranks tied for the 16th longest in NCAA Division I. Gonzaga has made winning at home a habit over the past three seasons winning 90 percent of its home games with a 36-4 record.
NATION'S LONGEST WINNING STREAK ENDS: Gonzaga had the nation's longest winning streak come to an end in the WCC Tournament Championship game against Santa Clara. The Bulldogs had won 23 straight games, falling one short of Portland's WCC record of 24 straight wins. Along the way Gonzaga earned its first national ranking in both major polls climbing to No. 23 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and No. 24 in the Associated Press poll. Gonzaga remained among the teams still receiving votes in both polls this week.
BURKE TAKES FREE THROW RECORD: Ashley Burke moved into first place on the Bulldogs career free throw list during the WCC Tournament connecting on 24-of-25 free throws. Burke passed former Gonzaga standout Ivy Safranski as she pushed her career total to 382 made free throws.
BURKE AND JEWELL IN SELECT GROUP: Gonzaga seniors Ashley Burke and Raeanna Jewell both joined an exclusive group of players this season as they both scored more than 1,000 points and pulled down more than 600 rebounds. Burke ranks 4th with 1,607 points and 3rd with 670 rebounds. Jewell is 10th with 1,072 points and 6th with 632 rebounds. Also on that list are Jessica Malone (1,703 pts/642 rebs), Carla Curfman (1,333 pts/621 rebs) and Juanita Rivera (1,021 pts/820 rebs).
RIDENOUR GETS INCREASED MINUTES: Sophomore Katy Ridenour was called to increased duty during the WCC Tournament as she played a career-high 31 minutes during the semifinal win over Pepperdine. Ridenour helped control the point position after WCC Player of the Year Shannon Mathews was sidelined with an ankle injury 10-minutes into the game. Ridenour then played 28 minutes in the championship loss to Santa Clara.
KANE STEPS INTO STARTING ROLE: Sophomore Rachel Kane was called into the starting line-up during the WCC Tournament championship game after Shannon Mathews status was a game-time decision. Kane played 12 minutes after making her first start since starting at Weber State during her freshman season. Kane suffered an ACL injury at the start of WCC play and has worked to get back into playing shape most of this season.
BAILEY'S POURS THEM IN AGAIN: Sixth-man sensation Anne Bailey continue to spark the Bulldogs off the bench as the junior forward hit double-digits in two of the Bulldogs three games at the WCC Tournament. After being limited to just 2 points against Portland in the opener, Bailey hit for 21 and 12 in the next two games to end the WCC Tournament with 11.7 points a game.
FOURTH SENIOR STEPS UP: Gonzaga senior Delphine Lecoultre made herself known as part of the Bulldogs senior class with two solid games at the WCC Tournament. Lecoultre sparked the Bulldogs big run during the opener against Portland as she connected for 14 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Lecoultre followed that up with four early points against Pepperdine as the Bulldogs advanced to the WCC championship game.
GRAVES IN THE WNIT: This year marks the third time Kelly Graves has guided a team into the Women's NIT. Graves has a 1-2 record in WNIT games with a 1-1 mark with Saint Mary's College in 2000 and a 0-1 mark last season with Gonzaga. The Bulldogs as a team are 1-3 all-time in WNIT action with a first-round loss to Oregon State last year and a seventh place finish at the 1994 event held in Amarillo, Texas.
GONZAGA 3-POINT STREAK: Gonzaga has now made at least one 3-pointer in 36 straight games dating back to the 2004 season. During the Bulldogs final home game in the Martin Centre on Feb. 15, 2004, 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 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-pointer effort against Santa Clara this season.
BULLDOGS SET NEW BLOCKS MARK: Gonzaga has now blocked at least one shot in 34 consecutive games dating back to last season including 129 blocks this season to set a new Gonzaga record for blocks in a season. Included in that 129 block total are two double-digit blocking efforts against Nevada (12) on Dec. 3 and Idaho (11) on Dec. 18. The 12 blocks against Nevada tied a school record for blocks in a game, the previous 12-block night coming against Alaska-Anchorage in 2001 at the Great Alaska Shootout.
BULLDOGS PLAY TO A RECORD CROWD: Gonzaga set a new West Coast Conference record for attendance at a women's basketball game when 5,825 fans watched the Bulldogs wrap up their perfect WCC season on Saturday night. Gonzaga finished the season averaging 1,680 fans, a new single-season record for Gonzaga. Gonzaga played in front of more than a 1,000 fans during 7 of its 13 home games this season.
SECOND PERFECT HOME SEASON: In addition to a perfect run in the WCC, Gonzaga also finished off a perfect home season with a 13-0 record. This is the second time that Gonzaga has gone undefeated at home as a NCAA Division I member. The first perfect home season was in 1994. Gonzaga has turned Spokane into a true home court advantage with a 36-4 (90 pct.)home record over the pas three years including a 19-2 (90 pct.) record in WCC contests.
BRAINS AND BASKETBALL: Gonzaga had two players recently earn Academic honors when seniors Shannon Mathews and Ashley Burke were named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic District-VIII team. Mathews was a first-team selection with a 3.40 GPA in journalism while Burke was a second-team member with a 3.26 in sociology and public relations. Mathews will now be eligible for the Academic All-America team released later this week.
SLAPPING ON THE `D': Gonzaga has turned the phrase "Defense Wins Championships" into a true statement after the WCC's top defensive team finished off a memorable WCC regular-season title. Gonzaga leads the WCC in field goal percentage defense allowing opponents to shoot 34.7 percent for the season. That total ranks 7th in the NCAA. Only six times this season has an opponent shot over 40 percent against the Bulldogs with Gonzaga posting a 3-3 record in those contests. The Bulldogs have also limited their opponents scoring totals with a WCC leading scoring defense of 53.6 points per game. That total ranks 14th in the NCAA. Gonzaga has also excelled in rebound margin with a plus 7.6 rebound margin while picking up 4.5 blocks and 8.2 steals per game.
SCHRAMM TO REDSHIRT: Gonzaga freshman post player Sarah Schramm will redshirt the 2004-05 season after suffering a stress fracture in her hand prior to the regular-season. Schramm scored four points during the Bulldogs exhibition win over Lewis-Clark State prior to suffering the injury.
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.
NEW HOME FOR BULLDOGS BASKETBALL: Gonzaga basketball has a new home this season as the Bulldogs opened play in the new 6,000 seat McCarthey Athletic Center. The $25 million project was completed in October of 2004 and serves 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.
