Feb. 4, 2011

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash. - Gonzaga University women's basketball senior Courtney Vandersloot registered her 11th double-double of the season to lead the Bulldogs to an 87-67 win over the University of Portland Friday evening at the McCarthey Athletic Center. There were 4,917 fans in attendance, the fourth-highest crowd in school history, to watch Vandersloot have a hand in 55 of the Zags 87 points as she scored a game-high 25 points and dished out 14 assists.

With the 20-point win, Gonzaga improved its record to 20-4 on the year and a perfect 8-0 in West Coast Conference action. The Bulldogs have now won 20-plus games in five-straight seasons and six of the last seven seasons. Portland fell to 12-11 on the year and 3-5 in league play.

Vandersloot hit 8-of-14 from the field, 1-of-3 3-pointers and 8-of-9 at the charity stripe for her 10th 20-plus point performance of the year. She then passed out 14 assists for the third time this season; finding junior Katelan Redmon five times, junior Kayla Standish and senior Claire Raap four times each and senior Janelle Bekkering once.

"It's what we've come to expect for four years from Courtney," stated head coach Kelly Graves after the contest. "I hope people have a chance to really come out the last four games and just watch and appreciate what they're seeing. We're probably never going to see a player like Courtney again for a long time."

Gonzaga, who came into the game second in the nation in field goal percentage, shot impressively well in the first half; closing out the opening 20 minutes sinking 61.8 percent (35-of-73) from the field.

With 7:39 remaining, the Bulldogs had only missed five shots, sinking 15 of their first 20 for the 35-13 advantage.

Gonzaga pushed its lead to 24 points on a jumper by Bekkering and held the 20-point advantage with two minutes left before halftime. But the Zags shooting failed themselves in the final minutes as they missed their final six shots and allowed the Pilots to make a layup, two free throws and a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left on the clock to put GU's halftime edge at 13, 51-38.

"I thought we gave them too many good looks," explained Graves. "But they are a very good offensive team and quite frankly there were stretches where we couldn't stop them."

The beginning of the second half continued to be a battle between both teams. The Pilots got the Bulldogs advantage down to 11 twice, the final time coming at the 14:32 mark on a layup by Amy Pupa.

After the layup by Pupa, Gonzaga started to click though. Vandersloot sank two free throws which started a 10-0 run that ultimately turned into a 19-4 spurt that put Gonzaga back in the driver's seat at 79-52 with 7:11 left in the contest.

Vandersloot wasn't the only player to finish with a double-double in the contest. Standish registered her seventh double-double of the season, scoring 19 points and bringing down 10 rebounds. She also made three steals, blocked two shots and handed out two assists in 29 minutes of action.

Redman and Raap closed out the double-figure scoring for the Bulldogs with 22 and 10, respectively. Raap has become a force off the bench for Gonzaga as of late, tallying double-digit points in four-straight games.

"She's having a great senior year," explained Graves of Raap. "She's making the most of every minute this year that she gets. Obviously she's good enough to be part of our starting rotation but she gives us a good lift every game coming off the bench it seems. She's accepted that role and she's done really well with it. I'm proud of her."

Gonzaga closed out the game hitting 47.9 percent (35-of-73) from the field. The Bulldogs had 22 assists on their 35 baskets, scored 22 points off of the Pilots 16 turnovers and handled the ball exceptionally well, only turning it over six times.

Portland was led by Lauren Angel with 25 points and nine rebounds.

The Bulldogs return to action next Thursday when they host Loyola Marymount University at 6 p.m.