Nov. 26, 2010

Box Score

HONOLULU, Hawaii - University of Mississippi's Valencia McFarland scored with four seconds left in the contest to lift the Rebels to a surprising 53-52 victory over the Gonzaga University women's basketball team Friday on the first day of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Rainbow Wahine Showdown, hosted by the University of Hawaii. The Bulldogs fell to 2-3 on the season, just two losses shy of their total loss count during the 2009-10 season, while the Rebels improved to 4-1 on the season.

Senior Claire Raap looked to be the savior for Gonzaga when she drained a 13-footer from the baseline with nine ticks left in the game that give the Zags the 52-51 lead. The Bulldogs could not slow down McFarland though, who took the inbounds pass after the Raap jumper, and drove coast-to-coast to score a layup on the too-slow GU defense.

Senior Courtney Vandersloot had enough time to run the floor herself, but her 3-point attempt with no time remaining was short.

Gonzaga let a 10-point second half cushion slip away. Leading 39-29 after a layup by junior Kayla Standish at 14:39 of the final half, Ole Miss rattled off a 12-3 run to pull within one point of tying the game at 42-41 at 7:18.

Two free throws by junior Katelan Redmon and a layup by Redmon, after two Zag offensive boards, gave Gonzaga some breathing room at 46-41 but the Rebels again took over using a jumper by Kayla Melson, 3-pointer By Valencia, after an Ole Miss offensive rebound, and two free throws by Melson to claim their first lead of the contest at 48-46 with 2:33 left on the clock.

Standish tied the game on a jumper at 2:16 but Nikki Byrd gave Mississippi back the lead sinking one-of-two free throws. Gonzaga again took the lead, this time on a jumper in the lane by senior Courtney Vandersloot with 1:30 remaining. The Bulldogs then forced a bad Ole Miss shot by Byrd, but Byrd got her own rebound, the 22nd offensive rebound of the night for the Rebels, and scored on the put-back to begin the final sequence for Gonzaga.

It wasn't an extremely explosive start for the Bulldogs but it was a strong start as GU ran out to a 12-0 lead 14:21 into the contest. Redmon had five of the 12 points for Gonzaga, who forced Ole Miss to go 0-of-8 from the field in the opening spurt and to turn the ball over five times.

The Rebels finally scored at the 13:31 mark when Melson hit a jumper. After the strong but slow start, Gonzaga let Mississippi back into the contest. The Rebels, who were strong on the offensive board in the first bringing down 10, cut the Zags lead to six at 20-14 after a layup by Courtney Marba at 4:47. Buckets by Standish and Vandersloot slightly held off the Rebels push at the lead but Ole Miss followed with back-to-back layups of their own to keep themselves in the contest.

Standish hit a jumper, to push her first half total to a team-leading 10, with a minute left before intermission to put the halftime score at 26-18.

Gonzaga did hold Valencia, Mississippi's leading scorer, who came into the contest averaging 15.3 points per game, to just one point - a free throw at 5:15.

The Bulldogs didn't shoot particularly well in the half, sinking 38.7 percent (12-of-31) and just 9.1 percent (1-of-11) on 3-pointers.

For the game, Gonzaga was led by Standish who had 18 points and eight rebounds. Vandersloot added 11 points and nine assists and Redmon also had 11 points.

The Bulldogs finished the contest with an uncharacteristic 34.0 percent shooting (22-of-63) from the floor and was just 12.5 percent (3-of-24) beyond the 3-point arc.

The Zags also got manhandled on the boards as Ole Miss finished with the 48-29 advantage.

The 52 points scored by Gonzaga is the lowest scoring output by the Zags since a 59-47 loss at UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 7, 2008.

Melson led the Rebels with 20 points.

Gonzaga now plays North Carolina Central University on Saturday. Game time is set for 4:30 p.m. PT.