Jan. 24, 2009

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash.- Four players scored in double-figure points, including two with double-doubles, to lead the Gonzaga University women's basketball team to an 83-58 victory over visiting Loyola Marymount University Saturday afternoon in front of 2,617 fans at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

The win kept the Bulldogs perfect in the WCC with a 5-0 record and pushed their overall mark to 17-4. The Lions, on the other hand, were dealt their second WCC loss of the season and are now 3-2, with a 13-6 overall mark.

"That was great basketball today," said head coach Kelly Graves." We worked hard on the boards and worked for the layups. It was a very good game played by our club today."

Junior classmates Heather Bowman and Vivian Frieson both finished with double-doubles in the 25-point victory. Bowman scored a game-high 28 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field and 12-of-13 accuracy at the charity strip and added 10 boards, seven of which were offensive. Frieson, who registered her sixth double-double of the season, scored 15 points on 6-for-16 shooting from the floor and brought down a game-high 13 rebounds.

Sophomore point guard Courtney Vandersloot was just one assist shy of being the third Zag to have a double-double. Vandersloot had an all-around game for Gonzaga, scoring 15 points, dishing out nine assists, grabbing four boards, making two steals and blocking one shot.

Sophomore Claire Raap, coming off the bench to play 19 minutes, was the final Bulldog in double-digits, scoring 10 points; two shy of tying her career high.

"We got good games from a lot of people today. The bench had a very solid day for us; a number of players produced on both ends of the floor and that was exciting," stated Graves, whose bench contributed 20 points.

As a team GU shot 44.9 percent (31-for-69) from the floor, including 37.5 percent (2-of-8) on three-pointers and hit 18-of-21 at the free throw line. The Bulldogs outmuscled the Lions on the boards, finishing the game with a huge 50-34 advantage, with a 17-12 edge on the offensive end.

Loyola Marymount was led by Cassady Moore and Alex Cowling who had 15 and 13 points, respectively. The Lions shot 34.8 percent (23-for-66) from the field and was 64.3 percent (9-of-14) at the charity stripe.

Gonzaga used a 15-0 run to close out the first half to secure a 47-28 halftime lead. Bowman scored eight of the 15 points, including six from the charity stripe, with freshman Kayla Standish putting a dagger in the Lions by draining a crucial three-pointer.

"That little run late in first half was a great sign and really turned the game for us," said Graves.

The Lions made a run at the Bulldogs in the opening minutes of the second half, using a 14-2 outburst to put Gonzaga's lead in single digits at 49-40. GU settled down though and went on a 10-2 run of its own to push its lead to 21 and the game out of LMU's reach.

The Bulldogs largest lead of the game was 26 at 83-57.

Gonzaga hits the road for a contest at Saint Mary's College Thursday, Jan. 29. Game time is set for 7 p.m.