Feb. 26, 2011

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. - The No. 23/23 Gonzaga University women's basketball team went undefeated in West Coast Conference play for the second-straight season and third time in seven years, clinching the clean slate with an 80-58 victory over the University of San Diego Saturday afternoon at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The Bulldogs, who are the seven-time WCC Champions, have now won 30-straight regular season conference games dating back to the end of the 2008-09 season.

"Two-straight years going 14-0 is amazing," stated head coach Kelly Graves. "I don't care who you're playing and where you're playing, that's an incredible accomplishment. I am happy for the team."

Six-thousand fans showed up to watch the Zags (26-4, 14-0 WCC) earn the 22-point victory over the Toreros (15-13, 5-9 WCC); becoming the second sellout of the season and third in school history.

It was an emotional day as five seniors were recognized before the contest. Courtney Vandersloot, Janelle Bekkering, Claire Raap, Tatriana Lorenzo and Carter Schick were honored on GU's final regular season home game of the year.

"We were a little off but that's okay. To some degree it's to be expected on a day as emotional as this," Graves commented. "In the end they play hard."

Vandersloot had scored 13 points in the first nine minutes of play, but cooled off after and closed out the contest with a game-high 20 points, hitting just 5-of-15 from the floor but nailing 9-of-12 at the charity stripe. The nations assist leader for the second-consecutive year, added six assists, five rebounds and two steals.

"Courtney struggled a little bit and I thought she was too fast at times," said Graves. "But overall, she still had a strong outing. I was glad we got significant time with all the seniors together for awhile. That was cool."

Three other Zags ended the game in double-digits. Junior Katelan Redmon added 16 points. She even had an 8-0 run of her own to close out the first half to give Gonzaga a 42-24 advantage. Classmate Kayla Standish also had 16 points and added a game-high 10 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season and second-straight. Bekkering was the final player to hit double-figures with 10.

Gonzaga shot 48.4 percent (31-of-64) from the field but was oddly off at the free throw line, hitting just 15-of-24 (62.5 percent). The Bulldogs forced San Diego to turn the ball over 21 times, scoring 23 points off the miscues.

GU's largest lead of the contest was 27, hit twice, with the final time coming on a jumper by Raap, with the assist going to Schick, which put the score at 76-52 with 3:32 remaining in the game.

The Toreros were led by senior Sam Child with 12 points.

Gonzaga now prepares for the West Coast Conference Tournament at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Bulldogs, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, will play in the semifinals on Sunday, March 6 at 11 a.m.