Dec. 5, 2010

Box Score

MISSOULA, Mont. - Senior point guard Courtney Vandersloot scored a game-high 27 points, her ninth double-figure point contest of the season, to lead the Gonzaga University women's basketball team to a 80-62 victory at the University of Montana Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs, closing out a six-game road swing, improved their record to 6-3 with the victory. With the loss, the Lady Griz fell to 3-5.

Vandersloot, coming off a career-high performance of 33 points at Eastern Washington University Friday, hit 9-of-20 from the floor, including 2-of-4 on 3-pointers and was a perfect 7-of-7 at the charity stripe for her fourth 20-plus point performance of the season. She also had seven assists, four steals and two blocks.

Three other Bulldogs finished in double-figures; junior Katelan Redmon added 14 and junior Kayla Standish and senior Janelle Bekkering both chipped in 12 apiece. It was Montana who started off strong, building an early five-point advantage at 12-7 at the 15:02 mark. The Lady Griz hit two of their five first half 3-pointers in their opening spurt, including Torry Hill's to give them their quick lead.

After the two teams traded baskets, Bekkering came alive. Bekkering started her spurt with a 3-pointer, followed by a jumper to knot the game at 14. She then gave Gonzaga its first lead at 12:10 when she picked off a Montana pass, ran the length of the court and scored a layup.

Kenzie De Boer tied the game again, this time at 16, but then the Bulldogs rattled off 10-straight points to break open the game. Vandersloot and sophomore Meghan Winters hit back-to-back 3-pointers to jump start the run, and Redmon ended the spurt with two free throws, followed by an offensive board and put back.

Vandersloot started to heat up in the final five minutes of the half. The point guard, who scored 23 points in the first half against Eastern Washington Friday night, tallied 12 of the Zags last 16 points of the half to give them their 15-point advantage. Vandersloot nailed 5-of-10 from the field, including 2-of-3 on 3-pointers, and again was perfect at the charity strip, sinking three, for 15 points.

As a team, Gonzaga hit 55.2 percent (16-of-29) of their shots in the opening 20 minutes and only missed one free throw, going 8-of-9.

The Lady Grizzlies opened the second half with a quick 7-2 spurt to cut the Bulldogs lead to 10 at 46-36 but Vandersloot again took over. She scored eight straight points for Gonzaga which started an 18-4 run that gave the Zags their then-largest lead of the contest at 64-40.

Gonzaga went on to hold at least a 20-point lead until the final 12 seconds of the contest and gained its largest advantage of the game at 25 points with 5:50 remaining on a jumper by freshman Jazmine Redmon.

The Bulldogs finished the game hitting 52.7 percent (29-of-55) from the floor, 35.7 percent (5-of-14) on 3-pointers and hit 17-of-20 (85.0%) at the free throw line.

Montana was led by Sender who scored 13 points.

Gonzaga returns to the McCarthey Athletic Center Saturday for a game against Washington State University. Game is set for 2 p.m.