Jan. 14, 2010

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga University women's basketball team put together another impressive outing as it defeated visiting Saint Mary's College 87-52 in a West Coast Conference game Thursday evening at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Junior Courtney Vandersloot, who was just named to the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 20 list, led the charge for the Zags, scoring a game-high 26 points, while dishing out six assists, making six steals and grabbing five rebounds.

"Courtney scored very well tonight," stated head coach Kelly Graves after the contest. "She shot the ball nicely and got into a very good groove. She is terrific and deserves to be on the Wooden Award list, just an incredible player who really set the tone tonight with her competitiveness and energy."

With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 2-0 in conference and 13-4 overall, while the Gaels were handed their first loss in conference and are now 2-1 and 11-7 overall.

"We didn't play our best game tonight, we were a little out of sync, not finishing as well as we usually do," said Graves. "Despite that, it was still a significant win against a good team. A lot of players stepped up and contributed."

Gonzaga finished the contest shooting 44.6 percent from the field, sinking 33-of-74 shots. Despite the impressive shooting percentage, the Bulldogs did miss eight easy layups and were only 2-of-9 from the 3-point arc.

What the Bulldogs did well was run the ball and clamped down on defense. Gonzaga closed out the game scoring 30 fast break points, including 22 in the opening 20 minutes. The Zags also forced the Gaels to turn the ball over 29 times - the exact amount of turnovers GU forced the University of Portland to have it its opening WCC contest last Saturday - and capitalized, with 18 steals and 39 points off SMC's miscues.

Another important key to the contest was the Zags defense on the Gaels Louella Tomlinson. Tomlinson came into the contest as the leading scorer in West Coast Conference action, averaging 17.8 per contest, including 26.5 per game in SMC's first two WCC contests. Gonzaga held Tomlinson to just 11 points, four of which were scored in the first half, on 5-of-12 shooting from the floor.

"We did a pretty good job on Louella tonight," said Graves. "She didn't get many points when Saint Mary's needed them. We also did a nice job of defense on Jontelle Smith who is an extremely good outside shooter. Overall, we stayed focused and matched up very well. We did a great job of team defense tonight. "

Smith, the second leading scorer for SMC at 12.5 points per game, who was averaging three 3-pointers per contest, finished with just five points on 1-of-11 shooting and 0-5 accuracy beyond the 3-point arc.

Gonzaga built a double-figure lead five minutes into the contest as it ran out to a 14-2 advantage and closed out the half with an 11-1 spurt to grab its 22 point halftime edge at 48-26. Sophomore Katelan Redmon and junior Janelle Bekkering were the leading scorers in the first 20 for the Zags, scoring 11 and 10, respectively.

Saint Mary's made a small run at Gonzaga in the opening of the second half, slicing GU's lead to 16 at the 17:20 mark but a jumper by senior Vivian Frieson followed by another Zag jumper, this time by Vandersloot, pushed the Zags lead back to 20.

Gonzaga hit the 30-point advantage plateau with 7:26 remaining on a fast break layup by junior Bekkering, assisted by Vandersloot, to put the score at 74-43. The Bulldogs largest lead was 35 hit twice, once on a 3-pointer by Bekkering with 3:49 left, and again on a layup by freshman Kaitlyn Petersen to end the game.

Besides Vandersloot, Gonzaga was led by Bekkering and senior Heather Bowman who both chipped in 15 points apiece. Frieson added 12 points and eight boards and Redmon had 11 points and six boards.

Gonzaga continues West Coast Conference action when it welcomes the University of San Diego to the McCarthey Athletic Center Saturday. Game time is set for 2 p.m.