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Zags Send Seniors Off On A High Note; Defeat San Diego
Feb. 28, 2009
SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga University women's basketball team sent its seniors out on a high note defeating the University of San Diego 77-67 in front of 2,914 fans at the McCarthey Athletic Center Saturday. The Bulldogs, who are West Coast Conference regular season champions for the fifth-straight year, finished WCC play with a 12-2 mark and are now 24-6 overall. "I think it gets tougher every year to win the West Coast Conference regular season crown," stated head coach Kelly Graves after the contest. "We saw everybody's best this season but, no matter what, winning it continues to be special." San Diego finished with a 7-7 record in the WCC and are 16-12 overall. The duo tandem of Heather Bowman and Courtney Vandersloot helped pace Gonzaga to its 10-point victory. Bowman scored 31 points for the Zags, two off her career-high, hitting 13-of-19 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line. She also grabbed seven rebounds, four of which were offensive, and made two steals in a team-high 38 minutes of action. Vandersloot finished with 24 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the floor, including 2-for-4 from behind the 3-point arc, and hit 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. Vandersloot also dished out four assists, grabbed five rebounds and had two steals in 37 minutes of play. "The two players that stepped up today are the two best players in the conference," explained Graves. "Bowman and Vandersloot showed it today." Bowman scored 10 of Gonzaga's first 14 points to help give the Zags the early 14-6 advantage at the 15:34 mark. Back-to-back jumpers by San Diego, followed by a 3-pointer by USD's Morgan Henderson sliced GU's lead to one at 14-13. Gonzaga settled down though and rattled off 10-striaght points to take an 11 point advantage, 24-13, with 9:30 remaining in the half. Vandersloot and Bowman combined for nine of the Zags 10 points.
Gonzaga's double-digit lead didn't last long as San Diego slowly chipped away, scoring 19 out of the next 26 points to claim a one point advantage at 32-31 with 1:47 left before halftime. Two free throws by the Zags Kayla Standish followed by a 3-pointer by Vandersloot, after GU got two offensive boards to keep the possession alive, gave the home team back a four-point lead at 36-32 with 42 ticks remaining. The Toreros Amber Sprague made a layup with nine seconds remaining to put the Bulldogs halftime lead at 36-34. Gonzaga shot just 38.9 percent (13-of-34) from the field in the opening half, including 25.0 percent (2-of-8) from behind the 3-point arc. San Diego hit 42.9 percent (15-of-35) of its shots, and 42.9 percent (3-of-7) on three-pointers. The Bulldogs held a five or seven point lead for the majority of the first 10 minutes of the second half. Gonzaga finally pushed its lead above double-digits when, after leading 55-50; it strung together a 6-0 outburst to put the score at 61-50 with six minutes left in the contest. The Zags largest lead late in the second half was 14, 75-61, after Vandersloot drained her second 3-pointer of the afternoon with 1:40 left in the game. The Bulldogs finished the game hitting 46.9 percent (30-of-64) from the floor, including a sizzling 56.7 percent (17-of-30) in the second half. San Diego had three players score in double-figures, including Sprague who scored a team-high 21 points. Dominique Conners added 16 points and Kiva Herman had 15. Gonzaga now prepares for the West Coast Conference Tournament. The Zags are the No. 1 seed in the tourney and, because of that, earn a bye into the semifinals. GU will play this Sunday, March 8 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. against either the No. 4 seeded Loyola Marymount University, No. 5 seeded Saint Mary's College or No. 8 seeded Santa Clara University. Its game is slated for Noon. |
