Dec. 11, 2009

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. - Behind a 24 point and nine rebound performance by senior Heather Bowman, the Gonzaga University women's basketball squad rolled to a 75-48 victory over the University of Montana Friday evening in front of 3,023 fans at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The Bulldogs have now won four-straight overall, three-straight over Montana and are 8-2 on the season, while the Lady Griz dropped to 3-6 on the year.

Bowman poured in 24 points, her fourth 20-plus point performance of the season, hitting an impressive 9-of-10 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free throw line. It was her play over the final 9:27 of the first half that helped break the game open for the Bulldogs. The Spokane native scored 10 of the Zags 12 points, including the final eight, in their 12-4 run that turned a slight 15-13 edge into a double-digit lead at 27-17 with 1:57 remaining in the half.

More impressive than Bowman and the Zags offensive spurt was their defense during this stretch as it held Montana scoreless for nearly six minutes. The Lady Griz hit a jumper at the 7:20 mark to put GU's lead at just 19-17 but wouldn't score again until Kenzie De Boer made a layup with 1:30 left on the clock. The Grizzlies were 0-for-5 during this time and were forced to turn the ball over three times.

Gonzaga went into halftime with the 30-19 lead despite shooting only 37.9 percent (11-of-29) from the field, including 14.3 percent (1-of-7) on 3-pointers.

"We played good defense in the first half tonight," stated head coach Kelly Graves." To hold a team like Montana to 19 points in a half is pretty good. I thought towards the end of the half we put some space between us and that was big."

As it has many times this season, Gonzaga came out flying in the second half building its lead to 27 points in a blink of an eye. The Bulldogs went on a 19-4 tear to grab the 49-22 advantage at the 15:44 mark of the final 20. Four players scored during the run for GU, including sophomore Katelan Redmon, senior Tiffanie Shives and Bowman who all tallied five points apiece.

"I thought we came out and played some very good basketball in the first five-to-six minutes of second half - maybe some of the best basketball that we have played this season," explained Graves. "I thought we figured out Montana's zone and got inside that zone. Defensively, we also got it going. We got some steals and created some offense with our defensive pressure and that's when we are at our best."

The Bulldogs largest lead of the game was 28 points, hit three times, the last coming at the 7:40 mark on a jumper by Redmon which put the score at 66-38.

Gonzaga was far more accurate from the field in the second half, hitting 55.2 percent (16-of-29). Bowman and junior Courtney Vandersloot led the Zags in the final half with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Besides Bowman, Vandersloot and Redmon finished the game in double-figures, both chipping in 13 points apiece. Vandersloot also had seven assists, four steals and two rebounds in 29 minutes of action.

Gonzaga held the slight 37-36 edge in rebounds, had the 10-5 advantage in steals. Montana turned the ball over 21 times in the contest, while Gonzaga turned it over 12 times. Gonzaga scored 25 points off of the Lady Griz miscues.

Montana was led by Sarah Ena and Katie Baker with 13 and 10 points, respectively. The Griz shot 36.6 percent (18-of-52) from the floor and just 50.0 percent (10-of-20) at the charity stripe.

The Bulldogs now head to Portland, Ore., to face Portland State University Sunday at 2 p.m.