Feb. 12, 2011

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. - It was a historic afternoon for the Gonzaga University women's basketball team Saturday. The Bulldogs, 73-59 winners over visiting Pepperdine University, saw senior point guard Courtney Vandersloot become the seventh player in NCAA history and fourth player in NCAA women's basketball history to eclipse the 1,000 career assists mark.

"It's quite the accomplishment," stated Vandersloot, who finished the contest with nine assists and now has 1,006 total. "I think it will mean more to me later in life but right now I'm just happy to win. I can't say anything more but it's the teammates that surround me. I can't get any assists without them making the basket and I always tell them it's a lot harder to make the basket than it is to make the pass. I've been on the other side of the pass and it's difficult."

Vandersloot hit the 1,000 mark four plays in on a layup to junior Kayla Standish at the 16:28 mark (see video of the assist here). Thirty-seven seconds later, at the first media timeout, Vandersloot was greeted to a standing ovation for her accomplishment. The 4,744 fans stood and cheered for the entire 90 second timeout and only settled back into their seats after Vandersloot ran onto the floor and gave a wave of recognition to the crowd.

"I will say I was glad to get it over with when I heard the announcement," explained Vandersloot.

After the emotional early moments of the contest propelled the Zags to a 16-6 advantage, they couldn't find their grove. Gonzaga, who had opened the game hitting 5-of-12 from the field for its 10-point advantage, went cold over the final 13 minutes hitting just 3-of-16 from the field.

On contrast, Pepperdine sank 12 of its 30 shot attempts to go into the locker room with the 26-25 advantage. The Waves one-point halftime lead was the first time since Feb. 8, 2009 the Bulldogs were down at half at the McCarthey Athletic Center in a league game; having trailed the University of Portland 37-29.

"I thought Pepperdine played really well," stated head coach Kelly Graves. "They played hard, had a game plan and they executed it for a portion of the game."

That portion of the game that Graves was talking about extending into the opening six minutes of the second half as the Waves stunned the Bulldogs with an quick 12-6 spurt that gave them a nine-point advantage at 40-31 with 14:35 left on the clock.

Gonzaga, not having been down by nine points in conference play since Feb. 19, 2009 when Loyola Marymount held a 19-point advantage in the first half of GU's stunning two-point victory, battled back though and used one of its marquee runs, this time a 13-0 outburst, to claim a four-point edge, 44-40, with 11:35 remaining. Vandersloot started the uphill climb with two of her six points in the run, and ended it with a pretty pass to junior Shannon Reader, who scored the layup.

Pepperdine would tie the game at 46-46, but Gonzaga had grabbed the momentum and used a layup by Vandersloot, followed a jumper and two free throws by Standish to quickly take a six-point lead.

The Bulldogs pushed their lead above double-digits after Standish again sank two free throws which put the score at 65-55 with 2:19 to play.

"It was a hard-fought game," said Graves. "It was a heck of a challenge but it was nice to see that we can make some plays in a tight game. We haven't had many here in the last few years. It was nice to see that we could come through when the chips were down."

Standish finished the game with her eighth double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 24 points and grabbing career-high 19 rebounds. The 19 rebounds were the most by a Bulldog since Anne Bailey had 20 against Portland on Feb. 22, 2003.

"I thought Kayla really stepped up for us in the second half and did a great job, on the boards and around the hoop," Graves said. "She was huge. She put together one of the greatest I think performances we've seen in this gym. I'm really proud of her."

Vandersloot and junior Katelan Redmon both ended the game with 17 points apiece.

The Waves (15-10, 6-5 WCC) were led by Jazmine Jackson and Skye Barnett with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Gonzaga, who improved its record to 22-4 overall and 10-0 in league play, hit the road for its final regular-season trip of the year. The Bulldogs play at Santa Clara University Thursday at 7 p.m.

1,000 Assists in NCAA History
Women
1. Suzie McConnell (Penn State, 84-88): 1,307
2. Tine Freil (Pacific, 89-93): 1,291
3. Andrea Nagy (FIY, 91-95): 1,165
4. Courtney Vandersloot (Gonzaga, 07-pres.): 1,006

Men
1. Bobby Hurley (Duke, 89-93): 1,076
2. Chris Corchiani (NC State, 87-91): 1,038
3. Ed Cota (UNC, 96-00): 1,030