Jan. 21, 2010

Box Score

MALIBU, Calif. - Gonzaga University women's basketball put together another outstanding outing as it defeated Pepperdine University 107-64 on Thursday evening at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif. The 107 points scored by Gonzaga was the most scored by an opponent against Pepperdine at Firestone. The previous highest scoring output by the visiting team was 105 by USC on Nov. 21, 1982.

The victory put the Bulldogs in sole possession of first place in the West Coast Conference at 4-0 and are now 15-4 overall. The Waves, who lost their first game in conference, fell to 3-1 in the WCC and are now 12-6 overall.

Gonzaga played nearly a perfect first half against Pepperdine. The Zags shot a blistering 58.5 percent (24-41) from the field and hit 6-of-11 free throws to go into the locker room up 55-28; the 55 points being the highest scoring output in a half this year by the Bulldogs. Gonzaga was also strong on the boards, outrebounding Pepperdine 24-9, including nine offensive boards, which turned into 16 second chance points.

"I don't know if we could have played any better," explained head coach Kelly Graves after the contest. "We were doing everything right; playing great defense, running and finishing in transition, each player was in tune tonight."

The Zags had three players finish the first half in double-digit points, including senior Heather Bowman who poured in 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor and a perfect 2-of-2 at the charity stripe. Junior point guard Courtney Vandersloot added 11 points and had a hand in four other buckets while sophomore Kelly Bowen came off the bench and exploded for 10 points.

It was Bowman and Bowen who helped the Zags capture an early double-digit lead. With Gonzaga holding a slight 9-6 advantage at 17:37, Bowman and Bowen combined for 10 of its next 12 points to take a lopsided 21-9 lead at 12:33. Bowman went to work sinking two free throws and followed them up with a layup while Bowen closed off the 12-3 run with six-straight points.

Pepperdine did cut Gonzaga's lead to 10 at 25-15 but was never able to get it into single digits as the Zags rattled off a 22-8 outburst to take a commanding 47-23 edge with 2:45 left before half.

It was no looking back in the second half as the Bulldogs gained a 40-point advantage just five minutes into the final 20 outscoring the Waves 20-7 to put the score at 75-35.

The Bulldogs largest lead of the game was 49; ironically it came when Gonzaga broke the 100-point barrier on a Kayla Standish jumper at the 4:26 mark to make it 101-52.

All 14 Zags saw the floor with 10 scoring at least two points.

GU finished the game shooting blistering 61.3 percent (46-75) from the field. It also held the 46-29 rebounding advantage and scored 34 points off of Pepperdine's 24 turnovers.

Gonzaga had five players finish in double-figures, including two who scored 20-plus. Bowman led the way with 26 points and Vandersloot added 20.

Also on the night, Vandersloot become the Zags all-time assist leader as she dished out nine to increase her career total to 601, taking over Shannon Mathews who had 600 from 2002-05.

GU resumes its two-game roadtrip on Saturday when it plays at Loyola Marymount University. Game time is set for 2 p.m.