Jan. 15, 2011

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Gonzaga University women's basketball team pulled out a tough 65-59 victory at Loyola Marymount University Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs, who had a 13-point halftime advantage, had to starve off a second half flurry by the Lions to earn the six-point victory.

Gonzaga returns home with a 15-4 overall record and a 3-0 West Coast Conference mark, all three wins coming on the road. Loyola Marymount was dealt its first league loss of the season and is 9-9 overall and 3-1 in WCC play.

The Bulldogs shot 54.8 percent (17-of-31) in the first half and held the Lions to 32.4 percent shooting (11-of-34) to go into halftime with the 44-31 advantage. Senior Courtney Vandersloot led Gonzaga in the opening half, scoring 11 points and having a hand in five other buckets.

Gonzaga, who lives on the runs it puts together, had its most important spurt start at 9:54 when junior Kayla Standish drained a 3-pointer. Standish's 3-pointer began what would end as a 14-1 run that put the Bulldogs in charge at 27-11 with 8:12 left before half. Four Zags scored during this run, including junior Shannon Reader who grabbed an offensive board and scored on the put back to end the run.

The Zags largest lead in the opening 20 minutes was 16 after Vandersloot drained a 3-pointer to put the score at 40-24 at the 2:23 mark.

Besides Vandersloot, junior Katelan Redmon added nine points in the first half and Standish chipped in seven despite being hit with her second foul with 11 minutes left in the half.

The Lions were led by Candice Nichols with 10 points.

Loyola Marymount came out with a lot of confidence in the second half, holding Gonzaga to five points in the first 11 minutes and scoring 14 itself to cut the Zags lead to just four points at 49-45.

Redmon hit two crucial shots for Gonzaga to push its lead back to 53-48 but a 3-pointer by Courtney Collinshaw and two free throws by Camille Buckley closed the Zags lead to three with 8:45 remaining in the contest.

Vandersloot scored two tough layups, the second with the shot clock winding down, followed by a short jumper by Standish to give the Zags same breathing room at 59-50 at the 6:27 mark.

A 7-2 run by the Lions though had Gonzaga up four at 61-57 with a little over two minutes to go in the contest. A missed 3-pointer by Standish gave back LMU the ball, but it also missed a 3-pointer, this time by Nichols. The Zags turned the ball over for the 17th time in the game on the next possession and senior Janelle Bekkering was called for a push as she went for the defensive rebound putting Renahy Young on the free throw line. Young missed the front end of the one-and-one though with 41 seconds remaining.

Vandersloot was then sent to the line for her own one-and-one but, like Young, she missed the front end. The Lions got the rebound but Vandersloot stole the pass and was quickly fouled. This time she made both free throws to give Gonzaga a six point edge.

LMU's Hazel Ramirez went coast-to-coast after Vandersloot's two free throw to again cut GU's lead to four with 15 seconds left but the Lions had to foul, and it was Vandersloot they put on the line. Vandersloot sank both free throws once again to give Gonzaga its six-point winning advantage.

Vandersloot led the Bulldogs, who scored just 21 points in the second half, with a game-high 22 points, along with nine assists, eight rebounds and two steals. Redmon added 17 points and seven rebounds.

The Zags finished the game shooting 42.4 percent (25-of-59) from the floor and was 76.9 percent (10-of-13) at the charity stripe.

Loyola Marymount was led by Nichols and Buckley who had 16 and 12 points, respectively. Buckley also grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.

Gonzaga returns home to the friendly confines of the McCarthey Athletic Center Thursday. The Zags host Santa Clara University at 6 p.m.