Feb. 8, 2006
2006 Gonzaga Women's Basketball Notes - Feb. 8
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West Coast Conference Weekly Release
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Game No. 25 - PORTLAND Saturday - Feb. 11, 2 p.m. Chiles Center (5,000) - Portland, OR
GONZAGA UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS (11-13, 6-3 West Coast)F - 30 Ashley Anderson, 6-1, Sr., Enterprise, OR (10.2 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.1 apg)F - 42 Stephanie Hawk, 6-3, Jr., Ontario, OR (12.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.4 apg)G - 1 Dominique Harris, 5-11, So., Los Angeles, CA (4.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.0 apg)G - 21 Katy Ridenour, 5-11, Jr., Post Falls, ID (7.0 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.8 apg)G - 32 Jami Bjorklund, 5-11, Fr., Spokane, WA (7.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.3 apg)HEAD COACH: Kelly Graves (University of New Mexico, 1988)GONZAGA RECORD: 91-82 (6th year); CAREER RECORD: 157-108 (9th year)
UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND PILOTS (4-18, 1-8 West Coast)F - 11 Meagan Bermingham, 5-11, So., Melbourne, Australia (11.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 3.1 apg)F - 42 Rose Sauer, 5-11, Sr., Newport, WA (7.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.0 apg)C - 50 Rachel Warren, 6-3, Jr., Brisbane, Australia (11.0 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 0.8 apg)G - 14 Whitney Grant, 5-6, Sr., Medford, OR (15.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.6 apg)G - 45 Anne Graner, 5-9, Jr., Red Wing, MN (4.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.4 apg)HEAD COACH: Jim Sollars (Seattle Pacific University, 1966)UP RECORD: 275-292 (20th year); CAREER RECORD: 452-374 (30th year)SERIES RECORD: Portland leads 26-24
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 91-82 record. He has twice been named the WCC Coach of the Year at Gonzaga (2003 & 2005) and boasts a 157-108 career record including 71-50 in WCC action.
LIGHT WEEK AHEAD FOR BULLDOGS: Gonzaga will have only one game this week as the Bulldogs head to the University of Portland on Saturday afternoon to complete their season series with the Pilots. Gonzaga won the first meeting between the two schools 67-60 as Ashley Anderson had a career-high 24 points and 11 rebounds in the win. Following the game at Portland, Gonzaga will have four West Coast Conference games remaining with two at home and two on the road. The Bulldogs are currently in third place in the WCC standings, two games behind first place Loyola Marymount University.
SCOUTING THE PILOTS: Gonzaga will be looking for its 10th straight win over the University of Portland when the two schools meet on Saturday afternoon. The Pilots are 4-18 on the season and 1-8 in the West Coast Conference. Portland does have three of its four season wins at home in the Chiles Center including a win over the University of San Diego in WCC play during the Pilots last home game. Whitney Grant leads the Pilot offense with 15.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. In the last meeting with Gonzaga had a game high 25 points hitting 4-of-9 from 3-point range.
BULLDOGS SECURE RARE ROAD WIN: Gonzaga won its first true road game of the season on Saturday afternoon as the Bulldogs knocked off Saint Mary's College, 68-58. The win gave Gonzaga a 1-9 record in home games this season and a 1-3 record in conference road games. The Bulldogs play three of their remaining five conference games on the road. Including neutral games, Gonzaga is 3-12 this season away from the McCarthey Athletic Center. The additional two wins came at the John Ascuaga's Nugget Classic in Reno, Nevada, where Gonzaga knocked off Northwestern State (LA) and Northern Colorado to clinch the tournament championship.
BJORKLUND BREAKS OUT: Freshman Jami Bjorklund carried the Bulldogs offense in the first half during last weeks loss at Santa Clara University. Bjorklund scored 15 of her career-high 20 points in the first half as the Bulldogs trailed the Broncos by four points at the half. The Spokane native finished the game hitting 9-of-13 from the floor and 2-of-3 from 3-point land. For the season is fourth on the team with 7.7 points per game including 8.7 points per game in WCC action. Bjorklund ranks third among WCC Freshman in scoring average for league contests.
ANDERSON NAMED PLAYER OF THE MONTH: Senior Ashley Anderson was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Month for January after leading the Bulldogs to a 6-2 record for the month. Anderson averaged 16.2 points and 9.3 rebounds for the month which included a 5-2 record to open West Coast Conference play. Anderson collected five double-doubles in the first seven WCC games of the year with a career-high 24 points against Portland and a season-high 13 rebounds against Santa Clara. The Enterprise, Ore., native nearly added her sixth double-double of the season to open February as she finished with 11 rebounds and 9 points in a loss at Santa Clara. Anderson now has 499 career rebounds and 774 career points.
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 62 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.
LANEY HAS HIGH PRODUCTION: Senior Juliann Laney had her best offensive weekend since her freshman season on Saturday afternoon as she scored 10 points during the Bulldogs win over Saint Mary's College. Laney was 3-for-3 from the floor including 1-for-1 from 3-point range. She also had 2 rebounds and 4 assists in the win. During Thursday's loss at Santa Clara, Laney was one of the Bulldogs top rebounders with a season-high 5 rebounds as Gonzaga outrebounded SCU 41-29.
HAWK BACK ON TRACK: Junior forward Stephanie Hawk seemed to get back on track offensively on Saturday afternoon as she led Gonzaga with 21 points. It marked her second game this season in which she has scored 20 or more points in a game. Hawk was 6-of-15 from the floor in the game, but 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Hawk has now scored in double figures in four of her last five games and leads the team with 12.5 points per game.
NO FREE THROWS IN THIS ONE: Gonzaga and Santa Clara played a relatively foul free game on Thursday night as the two teams combined to shoot only 13 free throws between them. Gonzaga was 4-for-6 from the stripe while SCU was 6-of-7. Gonzaga's previous low for free throw attempts in a game this season was 8 against the University of Maryland in the Paradise Jam. Gonzaga also had a game of 9 attempts against Michigan State University the Paradise Jam.
WOUNDED DOGS: Gonzaga will be without the services of two players for this weeks game in Portland. Freshman Sasha Polishchuck and Sarah Schramm will miss the contest. Polishchuck is out for at-least another week with a stress fracture while Schramm is done for the season following elbow surgery. The Bulldogs did have some good news on the injury front as senior Anne Bailey was cleared to return to action this week against Portland. She has missed all nine West Coast Conference games and was averaging 10.7 points and 6 rebounds a game prior to her injury.
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.
